Random Stranger
by BlackKitt
Summary: In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. Silentshipping.
1. Random Stranger

**Random Stranger**

**_Summary: _**_In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. Silentshipping._

_**Disclaimer: **No, I am not, and will probably never be, the proud owner of YuGiOh! Even though you probably guessed that already... _

_**Author's note: **It is time for yet another story of me! Well, it's only my third real, multi-chapter story, but still. I personally love the plot of this story; I tried to be somewhat original. You see, in almost every SxS story (including my own) Seto and Serenity fall in love first, deal with Joey second. And, of course, because they are so in love, they can overcome that. Or Seto dates Serenity precicely BECAUSE he wants to see Joey sweat. That's not my goal here. In my story, those two will pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend, just to get their family and friends to back off. Maybe romace will blossom... Maybe, okay, certainly, 'cause I'm a sucker for romance XD. Seriously, even if I have a bad ending in my for something, I end up with the most fluffy happily-ever-after scenario. Anyway, I've talked (typed) long enough. Enjoy the story!_

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Chapter 1: Random Stranger

* * *

Seto Kaiba gracefully signed his autograph at the bottom of the paper, handing it back to his employee to show his consent for the development of a new, improved gaming system. That baby was going to bring in a lot of money.

As his employee left, Kaiba leaned back in his chair smirked. Business was going better than ever. His new Duel Disks were already sold out, he was planning on creating an even better system for the sake of Duel Monsters, and he was two days ahead of his schedule. And not only he himself was doing well. His little brother, Mokuba, was getting straight A's in school; only yesterday had the fifteen-year old showed his rapport card to him. The kid might not always show it, but he was almost just as brilliant as his older brother. Well, it was to be expected. After all, Mokuba was a Kaiba. The boy would have a bright future, just like his brother.

Oh yes. Life was good.

A short knock on the door brought him back to reality. Maybe his employees had heard about his good mood and wanted to take advantage of it. Tough break for them; good mood or not, Kaiba would still scowl at anyone who wasn't worth his time.

"Come in," he said to the door, knowing the person on the other side would be able to hear him.

The door was opened, and a head full of long, black hair peeked around the corner. Ah, it was his little brother, and not some dim-witted employee of his.

"Hey Seto. Are you busy?," Mokuba asked casually as he walked over to his brother's desk.

"Surprisingly, no, I'm not busy," Seto answered as he got up from his chair. His response made Mokuba raise his eyebrows in surprise. His brother was_ always _busy. Not that he minded; Seto had the bad habit of getting grumpy when he was stressed.

"So… if you're not busy, could I ask you a favour?"

"Depends on what you want," Seto stated simply as he leaned back against the wall, waiting to hear his brother's request.

"Well… I eh… I was wondering if I could use the limo tonight," Mokuba said, crossing his fingers behind his back.

"Again, it depends. What do you need it for?"

Mokuba cursed behind his breath. The question had been unavoidable, but that didn't mean he was happy with it. Seto would never lend him the limo; his older brother would definitely think his reason was ridiculous.

"Well… I eh… I kinda have… a date," Mokuba managed to get out, still keeping his fingers crossed the entire time. "And well... I though that she might… might enjoy a limo ride."

So, Mokuba had a date. How amusing. The best part was that Seto knew it would be Mokuba's fourth date with the same girl, and that Mokuba still thought that his brother didn't know anything about his little girlfriend. Of course, he'd done a complete check-up on the girl, only to come to the conclusion that she was actually acceptable. A fairly high IQ, good education so far, a nice family tree and pretty rich, the last meaning she probably wasn't after Mokuba just for the money. Yes, this Rebecca Hawkins was a good choice on Mokuba's behalf.

Of course, he still thought that woman were a complete waste of time. Sure, they were fine workers, but relationships with them would only cause drama and pain. Gozaburo had taught him that, if he wanted to be successful, he should not get involved with women. Or men, for that matter. They would only hold him back. And in that case, Seto completely agreed with his stepfather. A relationship would either resolve in a broken heart, or a marriage with or without children. Both were not good for business. A broken heart made people sad, not able to think about anything else. He couldn't have that; he had to focus on many other important issues. And a marriage… That would probably be even worse. The wife would always demand time from the husband, wanting to be close, just like other couples. He didn't have time for that; he had a company to run. No, getting a girlfriend was definitely _not_ in his schedule.

However, just because he didn't want a girlfriend, didn't mean his little brother couldn't have one if he wished so. Mokuba would have to figure woman out himself. After all, experience was the best teacher.

"Fine. Take the limousine. But if you so much as scratch it, you're in big trouble."

Mokuba's face lit up as he cracked a huge smile at his big brother.

"Thanks Seto! I promise I'll be very, very careful with it."

"You better be," Seto muttered as Mokuba ran out of the room, scared that his brother might change his mind if he stayed a second longer.

A sigh left his lips as he sat back down in his office chair and continued working on the function rapport he'd been working on before he'd been interrupted by one of his employees and Mokuba. It didn't take long; within fifteen minutes the rapport was done, printed and send. He was done for the day.

A quick look on his watch told him it was five thirty; he'd only overworked for half an hour, which was about an hour and a half earlier than usual. Huh. So maybe this day _was_ perfect.

Still as content as he'd ever been, Seto grabbed his briefcase and made his way out of his office, actually saying goodbye to his secretary before he got into the elevator that took him to the ground floor. As he walked outside, he figured that, since Mokuba took the limousine and his chauffeur, he might as well walk home. Of course, he had a car in the building's parking lot, in case it was needed, but for some reason, he felt like walking today. And so he did.

He began to walk towards his mansion, enjoying the breeze that cooled down the heat of the summer sun. As he walked, a few people pointed, whispered and stared, but he simply ignored them. People always did that, and even though it was annoying, he'd grown accustomed to it. Their puny little lives were so boring and pathetic that seeing someone that actually had success nearly made their eyes pop out of their sockets. Well, at least there wasn't a bunch of his damn fangirls around. They were always trying to touch him in some way while screaming his name from the top of their longs, which was extremely annoying.

For about ten minutes, he walked a straight path. When he came to the first and only crossroad in his entire route home, he automatically took a left turn. The right was shorter, true, but it was also much more annoying. See, the right was the mall. He hated the mall. There were always tons of people there, and if someone recognised him, he had no place to run. The left was the park. On a summer day, the park was usually crowded as well, but there were plenty of places to hide if some crazy fangirl decided chasing him around would be a sane thing to do. Yes, the park was his best bet.

He entered the park and immediately quickened his pace, wanting to get through it quickly, so the chance of someone recognising him would be minimum. He dodged a few running children, killed a bee that was trying to sting him and managed to get past a group of teenage girl that were eying him. So far, so good.

Little did he know that he would curse himself for not taking the car in less than a minute…

* * *

Serenity Wheeler let out an aggravated sigh as she made her way through the park, desperately trying not to listen to the two guys that were walking shortly behind her. If she did, she was sure she would go nuts.

The two guys, Tristan Taylor and Duke Devlin, had asked if she would go to the park with them. She had quickly agreed. Even though they could be quite annoying in their bickering over her, it was nice to get some attention. And since her brother Joey was with his girlfriend, Mai Valentine, she could use some attention. But now, as she was walking through the park, she realized that the boys were far from interested in her at that point; they were too busy bickering about who would hold her hand, who would give her flowers and who would escort her back home. As if she herself had no say in it at all. It was very tiresome, and frankly, she wished she would've stayed at home.

"Hey Serenity. I got you some flowers," Tristan said as he offered her a small bouquet of handpicked poppies.

"Oh… Well, thanks Tristan, I…"

"Serenity, I got you flowers as well," Duke jumped in, handing her a huge bouquet of red roses. It was obvious he had bought them at flower stand in the park. "You know, red roses are the flowers of love."

"I know… Thank you Duke, but I can't…"

"Serenity, look, I bought you some candy," Tristan interrupted, pushing a medium-sized, heart-shaped box in her already overfull hands. After all, everyone knew that candy was better than flowers.

"Tristan, that's very sweet, but…"

"Hey Serenity, I bought you even better candy," Duke stated, putting a big box of chocolates on her pile of gifts; she could barely see where she was going with all the stuff in her arms.

She struggled to keep all the artefacts in her arms from falling; it was quite hard to walk, see where she was going and keep all the stuff under control all at the same time. And these were only flowers and candy… If they continued like this, she'd be buried alive in their 'sweet' gifts. She had to put a stop to this. And fast.

"Eh… guys… would you please help me to carry this?," she asked sweetly.

"Of course Serenity! Here, let me…"

"I can carry way more than him, Serenity! I will…"

After some more bickering, Duke ended up carrying the flowers while Tristan took care of the candy. Serenity sighed in contentment. Not only could she see where she was going again, she had also stopped the boys in their race to get her the best gift.

She really didn't understand why they wanted to impress her so much. She didn't see herself as something special or anything. Sure, she was slim, had a beautiful, open face and kind eyes; things a man melted for. Than again, she was also small and her curves were barely existent. Men liked the tall, curvy kind of woman. Right? So why were they chasing her like animals? Frankly, they were scaring her more than pleasing her.

Serenity had absolutely no interest in either of the boys. Sure, they were sweet, but the thought of actually dating one of them ran shivers up her spine. She was simply not interested, but they were too dense to see that and she was too nice to tell them.

Tristan was a very nice guy; a bit dumb every now and then, but nice. He'd sat by her bedside when she'd just had her eye surgery, and he'd taken her too see her brother after she'd been released, something she wouldn't have been able to do on her own. He cared for her. She liked him, as a friend, but she couldn't see herself dating him. He'd be one of those guys who made every decision for the girl he was dating, thinking he was being polite. She might be innocent and a bit naïve, but she could still think for herself; after all, she was seventeen years old, hardly a child anymore. No, Tristan was definitely not her dream guy.

Then there was Duke, the smooth, handsome one. He had probably dated hundreds of girls, seducing them with his good looks and his smooth tongue. He would always know what to say to make a woman feel good, and Serenity was sure he'd be a very passionate lover. Yet, she couldn't see herself with Duke either. He wouldn't be able to be faithful to her. After all, he was quite famous and very handsome; the girls would be all over him. Correction; the girls already were all over him. He would never be able to resist the temptation to mess around with other woman, and she wanted someone who would be satisfied with her. Only her. Duke could never give her that.

She wanted someone who would care for her and protect her, without smothering her or acting as if she couldn't think for herself. She wanted someone full of passion, passion meant just for her. She wanted someone who was strong and fierce, but also sweet and caring. Looks didn't matter to her; neither did money. If her prince charming was an ugly, one-eyed vagabond, than so be it. She just wanted someone who would love her unconditionally.

She sighed when the bickering voices of Duke and Tristan pulled her back into reality. Someone who would love her unconditionally… Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen. Every woman wanted someone like that, but barely anyone ever got their wish. She would probably never find the man of her dreams. After years of searching, she would give up on finding the perfect man and end up with either Tristan or Duke… If they hadn't settled down with someone else already.

Well, at least one person would be happy about her miserable future. Joey would be the happiest man in the world if she would stay alone for the rest of her life; that way he would be sure that she would be safe from a broken heart. Joey was the best brother anyone could have, but sometimes he was a tad bit overprotective. Okay, he was very overprotective. She loved him deeply, but she hated it when he babied her like she was five year old. And he always did that. She had lived with him for several years now; he was technically her guardian, but he took it way too serious. She still had to be home for diner, needed to be home before ten and he still told her to brush her teeth every morning and evening. And, of course, dating was out of the question. She was seventeen years old, but Joey still thought that was too young to date. The only positive thing about that was that Joey scared Tristan and Duke off. When Joey was around, they wouldn't even think about putting the moves on her. Unfortunately, Joey wasn't around now… So she was stuck with two teenage boys full of hormones that were obsessed with her, or better, with bickering over her. Fantastic.

"So, baby, how about you and I go out to dinner tonight?," Duke asked her, winking to her in the process. "I'll pick you up at say… seven?"

"Well… Duke, I'd rather…," Serenity started, trying to decline as politely as possible. Luckily for her, she didn't have to, thanks to the interference of Tristan.

"Hey, back off, Duke! Serenity's going out to dinner with me! Right, Serenity?"

"Eh… I don't think…"

"Bullshit! She likes me way better than you. Right, Serenity?"

"Duke, I really can't…"

"Yeah, right. _I _actually care for her, unlike _you_. She likes me better!

"Guys, please…," Serenity tried again, but it was of no use. Those two just wouldn't listen.

"Oh, come on! Like any girl would ever choose you over me, let along someone like Serenity! She likes me better!"

"No, she doesn't!"

"Yeah, she does!"

"No, she doesn't! She likes me better!"

"No way in hell! She's in love with me!"

"I'm the one she loves!"

"Like any girl could love someone with that ridiculous pin-shaped haircut of yours!"

"Hey, my hair doesn't have anything to do with this! Girls don't fall in love with hair; they fall in love with personality and style!"

"Yeah, and your hairstyle's ridiculous! Besides, I've got way more style than you."

"I have more style in my little finger than you got in your whole body!"

"You're lying! I am more stylish than you!"

"You're not more stylish than me!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

Serenity let out a heavy sigh as she sat down on one of the park benched, waiting for the guys to calm down a bit. That is how it always went. They started with trying to please her, than they got in a fight over her and finally, the fight over her resorted in some childish 'are not, am too' game about something that wasn't even remotely connected to Serenity herself. Like who was more stylish, in this case. They also had fights about who was cuter, who was tougher and who was stronger. They were simply hopeless. Well, at least their bickering had saved her from replying to their dinner requests. The though of having to spend a whole evening with either of them sent shivers down her spine. It wasn't really the dinner part, that was… well, she could get through that. It was the part afterwards, when the guy takes the girl home. Then it was either a simple goodbye, a hug, or, in a good case, a kiss. She was sure both of them would try to kiss her. Oh, that would be… awkward, to say the least.

"She'll never be your girl!," Duke's voice yelled, snapping her back into reality.

"Oh no? I'll bet she'll say yes if I ask her right now!"

"Oh, I'd take that bet any day, Pin Head!"

"Watch and learn then, Dice Boy!"

Serenity jumped up from the bench, slightly panicking. Oh no, Tristan wasn't going to ask her if she wanted to be his girlfriend, was he? Oh man, how was she going to save herself from this?

"Serenity, I've turned around this long enough," Tristan said as he approached her. "Would you be my girl?"

He said it without any doubt in his voice, but she could see his knees shaking. Duke was standing only a meter away, just as anxious for her answer as Tristan himself.

"Well… Tristan, I…," she choked. "I…"

"Hah! You see! She doesn't want to be your girlfriend!"

"She just has to think about it for a little while! She'll say yes; just you wait!"

"I'm not waiting any longer!," Duke spat as he took a step forward, closing the gap between him and the other two. "Serenity, I like you way more than he does. Be mine."

"He's lying Serenity! I like you better! I'm more in love with you!"

"No you're not!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

Serenity sighed in relief, thinking that the guys would forget about their proposals after a nice, long session of bickering. Sadly, she was mistaken.

"Well?"

"Eh… what?," she asked, blinking. She hadn't expected them to be done so quickly.

"Who do you choose?," Tristan asked, slightly pointing to himself to give her a last sign that she needed to choose him.

"Well… I… eh… I…"

"Serenity, you have to choose now. We're not waiting any longer," Duke said firmly. It was clear that they both were done with their bickering over her. They wanted an answer. Oh geez… How was she going to tell them she didn't want to be with either of them?

"Serenity, why aren't you answering us?," Tristan pushed her, as he crossed his fingers behind his back, still fiercely hoping she would chose him

"Well, guys… I…," she started, now completely panicking. "I… I… already have a boyfriend."

The words just dropped off her lips; immediately after saying them, she wanted to take them back. Why did she have to say that? She didn't have a boyfriend; this lie would definitely get her into a lot of trouble.

"Who is it than?," Tristan's devastated voice brought her back to reality.

"Eh… it is… eh… eh…"

She panicked again. Not realizing that she could just say some random name to get it over with, she started looking around like the answer would just magically appear. It didn't. There were a few playing children, a tiny swarm of bees and a group of teenage girl that were staring at something. Just as she saw that, she felt how that something, or better, someone, was walking past her. An idea popped into her head at that moment. It was a stupid idea, but it might just help her out of this mess.

"It's him!," she blurted out as she grabbed a hold of the arm of the man that was walking by her. "This is my boyfriend."

She felt how the man stiffened in her grip, and she quickly buried her face in his chest, the adrenaline now completely taking control of her.

"Please, please play along with me, sir," she whispered desperately, hoping the man would get her game and help her out.

"We… eh…," she heard Tristan mumble. He was probably a bit dazzled from the sudden news. "We… We should go."

"Yeah… we… eh… we'll see you," Duke added. The sound of two pair of running footsteps made Serenity relax a little bit.

She had to thank the poor man she'd grabbed; she owed him big time for not immediately pulling away and telling her that she was crazy. She lifted her head to look him into the eye while she spoke. However, when she saw his face, her heart stopped.

Oh god no… not him… Why did it have to be _him_?

* * *

_And so I shall end the first chapter of this tale. I must say, I'm really exited about this story; I've got tons of idea's and I really don't know where to start. This chapter itself was extremely fun to write; I especially loved writing the bickering between Tristan and Duke. If I were Serenity, those two would annoy the crap out of me too... But hey, they do have a vital role in this chapter XD. Without them, this entire story couldn't have been written, because without them, Serenity wouldn't have a reason to just say some random stranger (*couch* Kaiba *couch*) is her boyfriend. So I think Duke and Tristan deserve some respect. Well... Tristan more than Duke... I don't like Duke (readers of 'Captured Heart' should know that) XD. Anyway, I enjoyed writing this chapter and I'm looking forward to writing more of this story. Hopefully you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it. And please, if you have the time, leave me a review so I can improve my writing skills._


	2. Acquaintance

**Random Stranger**

**_Summary: _**_In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. Silentshipping._

_**Disclaimer: **Nope, I still do not own YuGiOh!_

_**Author's note: **Chapter two is done! This is by far the longest chapter I've ever written. This made me realize that the chapters in the story will probably variate in length... a lot. Anyway, this chapter will start with the exact same scene that ended the previous chapter, but now from Kaiba's point of view. I thought I'd mention it before anyone gets confused ;). Also, this chapter is designed to make a foundation for the plot, and so will the next chapter, so there's not that much going on here yet. It is crucial for the plot though, so I had to write it. Please bare with me through the first 'boring' chapters. The true action will either start next chapter or the chapter after that. Wow... I think this is going to be a long tale XD. Also, I want to thank everyone who read, favorited, alerted and reviewed. I got twelve reviews on the first chapter! That's a record for me, and they were all amazing. So, thank you! Now I'll stop. Enjoy the chapter^^._

* * *

_**Chapter 2: **__**Acquaintance**_

* * *

Kaiba let out a sigh of relief when he noticed the group of teenage girls who were eyeing him didn't try to jump him, as so many other girls had tried to do. The end of the park was in sight; he was getting through this without someone creating a scene around him.

He couldn't be more wrong. Just as he walked past a girl and two guys, he felt how something, or rather, someone, grabbed a hold of his arm.

"This is my boyfriend," he heard the girl saying. He froze. No, not one of those brainless girls again… To make matters worse, the girl now buried her face in his chest, clinging to him as if her life depended on it. Just as he was about to snap at her for harassing him, her whispered voice stopped him.

"Please, please play along with me, sir." She sounded quite desperate. Play along? Play along with what? Standing like a statue while everyone could see him in a lovey-dovey position with some girl he didn't know? No way. He attempted to snap again, wanting her to lay her hands off of him, but again, a voice stopped him. Not the girl's voice; it was a male voice this time.

"We… eh…" When Kaiba looked at the source of the voice, he couldn't help but crack a light smirk. The voice belonged to Tristan Taylor, and he looked like he'd just seen a ghost. Standing next to him was Duke Devlin, looking even worse than Taylor, if that was even possible.

"We… We should go," Tristan said, widening the smirk on Kaiba's face. One look at him and that idiot was already running away? How pathetic.

It was then that Kaiba noticed that the two boys both had their hands full. Devlin was carrying two bouquets of flowers: one small one, existent of poppies, and one large one, existent of red roses. Taylor was holding two heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, one of them slightly larger than the other one. Ah… so that was what this was about. Those two liked the girl that was now in his arms. How amusing.

"Yeah… we… eh… we'll see you," Devlin now spoke to the girl, obviously wanting to get away just as much as Taylor. Kaiba was definitely scaring them, and he enjoyed every second of it. He kept smirking as the two turned around and ran away as fast as their legs could take them. Idiots…

However, when Taylor and Devlin were out of sight, his face turned serious again. Even though he had enjoyed the looks on their faces, he still wasn't happy with the fact that some random girl was clinging to him. As he looked down at her, she lifted her head up to look at him. He could see her eyes widen in shock, and after a few seconds, she quickly backed away from him.

"M-mister K-Kaiba! Oh… god… I… I'm so sorry…," she stuttered, her face turning as red as a tomato in the process. Well, at least she realised she'd made a mistake. The strange thing was; he found her vaguely familiar, but he couldn't really place her. Maybe she was a part of Yugi's little gang; after all, she hung out with Pin Head and Dice Boy.

"Just what was that about?," Kaiba asked. Well, asked… It was more of a demand. No one had the right to just touch him, no matter what reason, but that didn't mean he didn't want to know the reason. If she had a good one, he just might go easy on her. Maybe.

"Well, I… I mean, they…," she sighed as she hung her head, knowing that more lies would only get her into more trouble. "Duke and Tristan like me. And… and they wanted me to choose between them… but I'm not interested in them… at least not in that way… and I panicked."

She took a deep breath, proud that she had gotten that out without choking on her own spit. "I panicked… and I told them I already had a boyfriend… but when they asked who, I panicked even more… and you were walking by… I didn't even realise it was you… my adrenaline just took over. I'm so, so sorry…"

Kaiba raised his hand, silencing her. Okay, so she was an idiot. For crying out loud, she could've just told those two morons she wasn't interested. Than again; she was probably too weak for that.

"Oh my… Joey's going to kill me…," she whispered, realising that Duke and Tristan would definitely tell her brother about her new 'boyfriend'. Gosh, why did she have to come up with that stupid lie?! Why couldn't she just gather the courage to tell Tristan and Duke to back off? She was hopeless…

Meanwhile, something clicked in Kaiba's mind. A girl with hazel eyes and long, auburn hair that was chased by those two idiots and worried about a Joey? That Joey had to be Wheeler; it was no coincidence that the girl would know a Joey while also knowing Taylor and Devlin. The pieces fitted perfectly. She was that Mutt's sister, the one that he'd briefly met on the blimp in Battle City. What was her name again? Serena… Serene… Serenity. Yes, that was it. Serenity Wheeler. Great… Just great. A random fangirl, he could handle. A Wheeler was a whole different story. Taylor and Devlin would definitely tell the Mutt about the fact that he was now Serenity's boyfriend… well, fake boyfriend. Wonderful. The Mutt wouldn't just kill his sister; he would definitely try to kill her 'boyfriend' as well. And if Wheeler found out that it was _him _that was his sisters 'boyfriend', he'd explode. That idiot would definitely try to kick his teeth out, and even tough that dog was no match for him; Kaiba didn't want any more contact with the Wheelers than necessary.

An aggravated growl left his throat, capturing Serenity's attention. "I really am sorry, mister Kaiba."

"Yeah, whatever," Kaiba mumbled, not really paying attention to her. He was lost in his thoughts about the other Wheeler; that insufferable Mutt would definitely try to do something funny when he found out that his sister was 'dating' his greatest enemy, and that was _not _appreciated by Kaiba. Damn it… And to think this day started perfectly. But no, of course _a Wheeler_ had to come along and ruin it for him.

Well, he wasn't going to help that pathetic little girl out. If anyone asked, he was going to deny everything. This was her problem, not his. Just because she was too weak to simply confess that she didn't want to date Dice Boy and Pin Head, didn't mean that _he_ would have to suffer from it. Besides, his reputation would get a serious blow if the media found out he was 'dating' some girl from the streets. Class meets class, and she was definitely _not_ classy. Heck, the day that 'Wheeler' and 'classy' could be used in a positive sentence… Well, that day would never come.

Anyway, he had better things to think about than idiotic Wheelers. Like the phone calls he was going to make to a few European countries when he got home. Kaiba Corp. had already expanded to America and Australia; it was time Europe would be granted the patented gaming technology of his corporation. He'd already made a deal with France, Germany, Belgium, Greece and Hungary, was almost on an agree with Spain and Iceland and had his eye on Denmark, The Netherlands, Italy and Norway. The rest of Europe would soon follow. Yes, _that_ was what he should be thinking about. Business and money. Not Wheelers.

Without even saying anything or looking back once, Kaiba walked away, his thoughts focused on his company, leaving a slightly startled Serenity behind.

The poor girl let out a heavy as she too walked away, though in a very slow pace. She had to go home… To Joey, who would probably know by now that Kaiba was her 'boyfriend'. Oh, this was not going to be good… Maybe she could say that she had been kidding. Usually, Joey and Tristan could appreciate a good joke. Even though Joey probably wouldn't find this one very amusing, it was better than keeping up that lie. She'd had to find a new way to deal with Tristan and Duke, but that was a small price to pay.

She took a deep breath as she quickened her pace, wanting to get this whole thing over with a soon as possible.

* * *

Kaiba stepped inside his mansion. His coat and suitcase were taken by Fong, the butler, before he went straight to the living room, where he would have a nice cup of coffee before he went up to his home office to get some more work done. However, when he entered the living room, it was obvious that peace was far to be found. Mokuba and his little girlfriend, Rebecca, already all dressed up for their date, were cuddled up on the sofa, enjoying each other's company. A little too much for Kaiba's tastes.

"Would you mind?," he growled as he sat down in one of the armchairs in the room. The two teens quickly parted, a bit embarrassed that they'd been 'caught in the act'. "Why are you two still here anyway?"

"We have reservations for seven. It's six now," Mokuba explained.

"Great," Kaiba muttered under his breath. Those two lovesick kids would be here for another hour… Wonderful…

"What happened to your good mood?," Mokuba asked cheerfully, not realising that he had cut the wrong subject.

"Wheeler," Kaiba answered simply. He looked up when Fong came in with his coffee. As soon as he had the cup in his hands, he took a sip, immediately feeling the caffeine doing its job. The inventor of that stuff was truly a genius.

"Oh…," both Mokuba and Rebecca said in understanding. They both thought that Kaiba had meant Joey, and Kaiba _always _bickered with Joey. Little did they know that it was actually Serenity who had pissed him off. And Mokuba himself was about to make it even worse.

"Say Seto…," the younger Kaiba started nervously. It had seemed such a good idea back when Seto had still been in a good mood… But now, he wasn't so sure anymore. "Why don't you go out on a date?"

Kaiba raised his eyebrow at his little brother. "Really, Mokuba?"

"Yeah, really… you see, we, that is Rebecca and I, we kinda… kinda got you… a blind date."

Kaiba looked up from his cup, his eyes narrowed so far that there were only two tiny lines of blue visible. "You did what?"

"We got you…"

"Yes, I heard you!," Kaiba spat back, his anger rising with the second.

"Well…?," Mokuba asked carefully.

"Well what?"

"Are you going?"

"No way in hell I am!," Kaiba growled, surprised that Mokuba would even ask that. Of course he wasn't going on some blind date! How did those two even think about getting him a blind date?! Didn't they have a brain?

"Well… you see… She's coming here," Mokuba said quickly, staring at his shoes and fiddling with his tie.

"Than tell that woman this 'date' is off!"

At that moment, they heard the doorbell ring.

"Don't tell me…," Kaiba growled, but Mokuba had already jumped up and ran to the door, opening it for his brother's blind date before the butler could.

A few seconds later, Mokuba re-entered the room, dragging along a blonde woman. She was tall, well shaped… well, just plain beautiful, but Kaiba couldn't care less. He was _not _going on a blind date. And thanks to his little stunt, Mokuba was _not_ taking the limousine anymore.

"Hi, I'm Stacy," the woman said with a smile as she offered Kaiba her hand.

"I don't give a damn who you are. Now get out of my house," Kaiba spat back.

"But…"

"Out. Now."

"I… I thought we had a date," Stacy said, obviously upset by Kaiba's behaviour.

"Well, we don't. Now get out."

"But… why not?"

"Because I already have a girlfriend," he answered, the sarcasm nearly dripping from his voice. He was lying, but he just wanted to get that godforsaken woman out of his house without her bursting into tears and making a scene.

"Oh… I see," she said, a small smile on her face, obviously not noticing that Kaiba was just trying to get rid of her. "Well, thanks anyway."

With that, she turned around and walked out the door. Finally. Now if only Mokuba and his damn girlfriend would get out, Kaiba would finally get some rest.

"Seto…," Mokuba started, mad about the way his brother had treated that woman.

"No. You are grounded for the next two weeks, starting tomorrow. And you can forget that limousine," Kaiba sneered, snatching the keys for the expensive car from the coffee table before he turned on his heals and high-tailed out of the room, ready for an evening of mind-relaxing work.

* * *

Serenity stood in the hallway of the apartment she shared with Joey, staring intensely at the doorknob of the door that would lead her into the living room. She had reached for it many times, than pulled back at the last second, afraid to face what was behind that door.

She had a pure fifty-fifty chance; either Joey was already home and probably already knew what had happened, or he was still at work. It was a Friday evening, and Joey, who worked as a waiter in a restaurant downtown, originally only had to work from nine to five, but he usually had to take an evening shift as well, since the restaurant was swamped every Friday night.

Well, she just had to take the gamble. Sooner or later, she would have to face Joey anyway. All she could do was hope that her brother would just give her a chance to explain herself. If he didn't give her that chance… Well, than she would have to hear his 'all-guys-suck' lecture together with his 'I hate Kaiba's guts' lecture. And then, of course, he would treat her as if she was a little kid even more… She wondered if he would actually try to feed her when this was all over.

She sighed heavily before she took a firm hold of the knob and turned it, opening the door to the living room. When she peaked her head inside, she had trouble not to burst out in laughter.

Tristan and Duke were laying on the couch, each eating from a box of chocolate they'd given to her. It was somewhat sad, but more hilarious. Their faces were completely covered in chocolate; there was even some in Duke's hair, but neither of them seemed to care, too depressed to do anything about their appearance. On an armchair in the corner of the room was Yugi, who was probably there to make sure that the two didn't cause any trouble. It was obvious the small boy was trying to look compassionate, but had some trouble keeping in his laughter as well. And the best part was: That was it. No Joey. Hallelujah.

She cleared her throat to announce that she was home, and immediately three pair of eyes were on her. Tristan and Duke quickly looked away, obviously not over their loss yet, whereas Yugi smiled at her, got up from the chair and walked towards her. When he got to her, he gently grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

"Look, Serenity," he started when he was sure that the demolition duo couldn't hear them from the living room. "Don't ever tell this to Joey, Tristan or Duke, because they'll kill me for it, but I'm really happy for you."

"You are?," Serenity asked a bit surprised, not expecting that her brother's best friend would be on her side… if this whole thing were to be real.

"Yes, I am. Besides, I think it's good for Kaiba too. He's always so distant and cold; I think that you are one of the few people who could actually make him a better person. Mokuba's been the only person to do that so far, and well… I think that's not enough. You could really change him, Serenity, and I'm really proud that you're trying."

She opened and then closed her mouth, trying to think of what to say. Yugi had always been some sort of a father figure in her eyes; always wise, calm and advising, yet he reminded her of a little brother with his big, innocent eyes and smile. He was so happy about this… proud even. How was she going to tell him that this was all a big scam? With Joey, it wouldn't be hard; he would be happy to hear that she wasn't really dating Kaiba, but Yugi actually seemed happy for her… For _them_. It was hart warming. She smiled ever so slightly at him. She just couldn't tell him; she knew it would break his spirit. It would be better if she told Joey first, so he could tell Yugi. That way, it wouldn't be that much of a blow.

"Thanks Yugi," she said softly as she cracked a small smile at him.

He nodded happily at her. Yugi returned to the living room, and just when Serenity was about to follow him, the doorbell rang. She looked at it quizzically, wondering who it could be. Serenity walked to the door and opened it. On the doorstep was Mokuba, dressed in a fancy tuxedo. She could tell by the look on his face that something was wrong; he looked horrible. So she simply stepped aside and allowed him in without asking questions. Mokuba flashed her a slight, sad smile of gratitude before he stepped inside. She smiled slightly back before she closed the door and led Mokuba to the living room.

When the two of them entered, they faced a nearly empty, but very messy living room. Yugi was sitting on the ground, picking up candy wrappings that were spread all over the floor. Tristan and Duke were gone, but some very gross sounds coming from the kitchen made clear that they were still present.

"They got sick," Yugi explained as he got up, his arms full of candy wrappers. "I think you should stay clear of your sink for the next week or so."

Yugi dumped the wrappers in the trashcan in corner of the room and turned towards Serenity and Mokuba, only now noticing that the younger Kaiba was there.

"Oh, hi Mokuba. What brings you here?," Yugi asked.

"Hi Yugi. Well, I stopped by at the Game Shop first, but your grandfather said that you and probably everyone else was here… I figured that it would be better if I'd spent my last night of freedom wisely."

"Your last night of freedom?," Serenity asked curiously.

"Yeah… starting tomorrow, I'm grounded for two weeks," Mokuba sighed. "And since I'll be stuck at home for the next two weeks, I wanted to be somewhere else than there tonight."

"I see… But what did you do to anger your brother so much?," Yugi asked.

"Well… I'll start from the beginning. You see, this afternoon, I went to Seto's office and asked him if I could take the limousine. I had a date with Rebecca, you see… I figured a ride in the limo would be nice. Anyway, surprisingly, Seto actually let me have it; he was in a very good mood. And, since I've been trying to get him to go on a date for some time now, I thought that, since Seto was in such a good mood, now would be the best time. So, I arranged a blind date. But when he got home, he was incredibly cranky. And when I dared to tell him that I had arranged a blind date… Well, you can guess. And since Rebecca and I couldn't find any other transport to get to the restaurant, which is on the other side of town, we couldn't go on our date and she got mad at me as well…"

"Oh…," Yugi said. "Well, I can see why Kaiba got so mad… After all, he already has a girlfriend."

"Really? I though he was just bluffing."

"Bluffing?"

"Yeah. You see, when the blind date arrived, he immediately send her away, saying that he already had a girlfriend. I though he was just trying to get rid of her," Mokuba explained. "But wait… how do you know that Seto's got a girlfriend?"

"Because she's standing in this room at the moment," Yugi answered, as he looked at Serenity with that same warm smile he had on his face in the hallway.

"Really? Oh, Serenity, that's awesome!," Mokuba squealed as he hugged Serenity, who had frozen on her spot. This wasn't good… This whole 'boyfriend-girlfriend' thing between her and Kaiba was getting way out of hand. She had to put a stop to it before it got really bad… Unfortunately, she never got a chance to try.

"I so happy that Seto finally got himself a girlfriend! I though it would never happen," Mokuba exclaimed happily, letting go of Serenity. "No wonder he got so mad at me for that blind date... I'd be angry too if I were him. And here I was, thinking he just had a bad mood. I'll go home and apologize immediately!"

He briefly hugged Serenity again before he flashed a big smile at her and Yugi. Then, he was gone. They heard the front door slamming shut and silence filled the house. Well, silence minus the sounds coming from the kitchen, that was.

"It looks like Mokuba's happy for you too," Yugi said with a smile on his face.

Serenity smiled back, though it wasn't whole-heartily. Yugi didn't seem to notice though; he walked out of the room into the kitchen, to check up on Tristan and Duke. Meanwhile, Serenity sat down in an armchair and sighed heavily. Great… Just great. Now Mokuba knew about this thing too… This was not good. She should've said something. She should've told Mokuba. Or Yugi. Heck, she should've just told Tristan and Duke to back off, so she could've avoided this whole mess. Damn her stupid politeness…

Her head shot up when Yugi walked back in, shortly followed by Tristan and Duke, who both looked horrible.

"I'm going to take them home," Yugi told Serenity. "Don't worry, they will be fine. They're just a bit shocked with the fact that you chose Kaiba over them… But they'll get over it. Someday."

He smiled and waved goodbye before he led Tristan and Duke out of the room, and out of the house, leaving Serenity alone with her thoughts. However, her peace didn't last long. Barely fifteen minutes after Yugi, Tristan and Duke left, she heard the door opening again. Okay, there was Joey. Serenity got up and straightened herself, ready for the confrontation. She just had to be quick with explaining herself; she had to tell him before he could say anything.

However, when he walked in, her jaw dropped. He was _smiling_ at her. That was… strange, to say the least. Was it possible he didn't know yet? No, that couldn't be… Tristan or Duke would've called him at work; there was no way they wouldn't let him know. But than why was he smiling at her?

"Relax, sis, I won't yell at you," he told her as he loosened the tie around his neck and laid down on the couch. He was obviously exhausted from work.

"Joey… I don't understand," Serenity said softly, absolutely amazed by her brother's reaction. She knew she should be telling him that she was lying, but she was too overwhelmed to do so.

"Look sis, I'm not happy with this thing, you know that… And if I had been home when I heard I definitely would've gone mad. But I had a lot of time to think about this at work, and I've come to the conclusion that it's my fault. I was too overprotective with you, so it's logical you were trying to disobey me. I had this coming, sis. I had this coming and I was too blind to see it. So, even though I'm not approving of you and Kaiba, I'm willing to except it if I have to. And I promise that I'll treat you more like a seventeen-year old from now on."

She blinked a few times, absolutely stunned by Joey's reaction. She'd expected him to be angry, furious even. To yell at her, throw with things, tell her how disappointed he was in her. This just showed how much her once so childish brother had grown up. Well, he was still a bit childish, but he was so much more responsible. And accepting, apparently. He was just willing to let her be with Kaiba if that would make her happy. And he was actually going to treat her like an adult instead of a five-year old. Finally he wouldn't set her curfew at ten, make her come home for dinner every evening or tell her to brush her teeth. Not anymore. She could actually get used to that.

"Hey sis? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Joey," she said, smiling at him. "I'm fine."

"Alright than. I'm gonna go catch some Z's; work really beat me up today… And I've gotta go again tomorrow," he groaned as he got up from the couch wit a lot of effort. "Goodnight sis."

"Goodnight Joey."

Wow… He really didn't remind her to brush her teeth. He was treating her like an adult. She liked this new addition to the whole 'boyfriend-girlfriend' thing. Joey was respecting her, Tristan and Duke were out of the picture and both Yugi and Mokuba were happy for her.

Maybe this whole thing wasn't so bad after all…

* * *

_And that ends the second chapter of 'Random Stranger'. As I said, it's long at a bit boring, but I still hope that you enjoyed it. I must say, this was a hard chapter to write, especially Joey's reation. Personally, I don't think he would be that understanding, but it was necessary for the sake of story. I did have a lot of fun writing about Tristan and Duke. And Yugi. For some reason, I'm starting to like writing about Yugi. Anyway, I don't really have much more to say about this one. I hope you enjoyed reading and if you have the time, please leave a review so I can improve my writing skills. And, for those who don't know, I will be replying to the reviews from the previous chapter now. I will at the end of each chapter. Untill next time!^^_

_XxXDarkMagicianXxX:__ Thank you very much for your nice review! I'm very happy that my story warmed you for SxS; it a real compliment for me^^. Thanks!_

_SetsunaKou: Thank you! Your review really made me blush... (especially when you said you were my fan. My very first fan! =D) I really hope I can work up to your expectation with this story, and hopefully, you'll stay my fan ;)._

_ken08002: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it and I hope my update was soon enough for you^^._

_AngelsFireNIce: YES! It IS Kaiba XD. Hard to guess, huh? *sarcasm* Thanks so much for your review!_

_Mirokusonlybabe: Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it, and I'm also glad 'Captured Heart' made you hate Duke. That was sorta my goal XD. Anyway, thanks!_

_Inyoface: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the Tristan-Duke part; it was a lot of fun to write. And yes, Tristan's hair IS indeed rediculous... But hey, Yugi's hair is even worse XD._

_sandsnowstorm: Wow... Thank you so much! Your reviews are deifinetely awesome, and I was very happy to read this one :). I love how you pointed out the exact same things I wanted to bring out the most: The whole 'Duke VS Tristan' thing and Kaiba's calm introduction. Really, your review made my day! Thank you very, very much!^^ And I must say, that I love your new story too! I'm having trouble with reviewing... again... but let me just say that I love it and that I hope you'll continue it^^._

_sweet summer rain: I'm really happy you enjoyed it! And don't thank me; I should be thanking you for your nice review. So thanks!^^_

_Ultimate Ending: Your review brought a huge smile on my face. I'm really glad that, even though you don't usually read SxS, you like my story. Thank you very much and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well ;)._

_111: Thank you very much! I know, the end was kinda mean... But it'll get better^^ I hope this update was soon enough for you._

_Dark Onyx: You are absolutely right. I re-read my previous chapter and I found that Serenity does stutter too much. I had her stutter a bit in the first part of tis chapter too, but I'll definitely cut down on that from now on. Thank you for both your constructive critisism and your nice words. I'm glad my story inspired you to read some more SxS (it had way too many fans out there). Anyway, thank you very much and I hope that you liked this chapter^^._

_omg: Thanks you so much! I'm really glad you love it!^^_


	3. Accomplice

**Random Stranger**

_**Summary: **__In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. Silentshipping._

_**Disclaimer: **Unfortunately, I am still not Yu-Gi-Oh!'s proud owner._

_**Author's note: **Chapter three is done! This one was hard, let me tell you. Just like the previous two, this chapter is designed to create the plot. So, I am sorry if it is a bit boring; there's not much going on yet. However, that will change the next chapter, so please bare with me until then. Anyway, that was about all I had to say about this chapter. Enjoy reading^^  
_

_**

* * *

**_

_**Chapter 3**__**: **__**Accomplice**_

* * *

Kaiba let out a content sigh as he hung up the phone. Another deal made. His project was going in the right direction. The events that had occurred before seemed like a distant memory now that his mind was focused on his company again. Business had always been relaxing to him for some reason.

Little did he know that he would soon be brutally reminded of the less fortunate things that had happened that day. A mere few minutes after he'd hung up the phone, the door to his office was swung open by a very hyper and way too happy Mokuba.

"Seto! Why didn't you tell me?!," the younger Kaiba exclaimed as he bounced into the room.

"Tell you what?," Kaiba asked, confused. He couldn't think of anything important that he hadn't told his brother. However, it had to be something big. Otherwise, Mokuba would never be so happy, at least not when he'd just been grounded.

"Your girlfriend! Why didn't you tell me about her?!"

"I think someone's had too much sugar," Kaiba said skeptically, raising one eyebrow. Where had Mokuba picked up that nonsense? Maybe there was some gossip going around. He had to cut that short before the press would be all over him… again.

"Come on, Seto, I know you have a girlfriend! Don't try to deny it!," Mokuba said, smirking.

"And who is this 'girlfriend' of mine supposed to be?"

"Serenity of course! Serenity Wheeler!"

Kaiba froze. Wheeler. Shoot. The memory of his walk through the park flashed before his eyes. She had grabbed his arm and told Pin Head and Dice Boy he was her boyfriend. He had been too busy enjoying the looks on their faces; he hadn't said anything against it. They ran away, and had told the whole story to their friends. Mokuba said he was going to the Game Shop to enjoy his last moment of freedom, as he so dramatically put it. The pieces fitted. The Wheeler girl still hadn't had the guts to confess her lie; her friends still thought she was dating him. They must've told Mokuba. That's where he got that ridiculous idea. Great. Just great.

"Mokuba, she is not…," he started in an annoyed tone. He never finished his sentence.

"I'm just so happy for you! And for her, of course. I think she'll be good for you, Seto. You really need to get out more…," Mokuba rattled on, still overly excited about the fact that his brother had finally found himself a girlfriend. "And Seto… I wanted to say sorry for the whole blind date thing. If I had known that you already had a girlfriend, I would have left it alone."

Kaiba blinked a few times. If Mokuba had known that he had a 'girlfriend', he would've left it alone? He wouldn't have set up the blind date, he wouldn't have asked random girls what that they thought of his older brother, he wouldn't have registered him on a dating site? Huh… well that was definitely interesting. Too bad it wouldn't last long.

"Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I'm happy for you. And that I won't bother you with dating stuff anymore," Mokuba told his older brother. "Which reminds me, I should take your profile off that dating site… Yeah, I'll go do that."

With that, Mokuba turned around and left the office, on his way to his own room.

Kaiba sat down in his chair and smiled slightly. That kid… Maybe he should've gone a little easier on him with that punishment. After all, he was only trying to help. Well, it was best to wait until Mokuba had taken his profile off that dating site. Wherever he got that idea…

It was then when he discovered _The Wall Street Journal _lying on his desk. It was his favorite newspaper; one of the few that didn't waste paper and ink on gossip and other ridiculous stuff. He himself had been on the front page multiple times. After all, business was a major subject in the paper, and his company was one of the largest businesses in the world. It simply held the most value for a businessman like him, and he usually enjoyed reading it. He just hadn't found the time to read it thanks to Mokuba's little stunt. But with Mokuba in his room, hopefully not planning anything date-related, it would be the perfect time to read.

He unfolded the paper and started scanning the front page for something interesting. Maybe he would stumble across some interesting articles about the gaming industry somewhere. The front page was supposed to contain the best and most important news; if he gaming industry was mentioned there, it would be something big. However, Kaiba soon discovered that the front page held nothing interesting. Well, not to him, that was. So he continued to scan the rest of the paper, occasionally reading an article here and there. He turned another page, thinking he'd find more vaguely interesting articles. However, the article he stumbled upon was something he hadn't expected to find.

With wide eyes, he started reading. The article was about one of the other company's in the gaming industry; his competition. Well, competition… it was only a small company, and it hadn't been doing well. The previous month there had even been speculations about bankruptcy. Last week, the CEO, Jacob Barkly, had been all over the news because he'd got himself a new girlfriend. She'd been a vagabond before that guy picked her off the streets. Kaiba had snickered at that; even though the guy was a failure in business, he could probably still do better than a hobo.

But now, as he was reading the article, he wasn't laughing anymore. It said that this company, that had been so close to bankruptcy only a month ago, was now doing better than ever. In only one week, it had doubled in worth, sold more products than ever and its CEO had surpassed Kaiba himself in the popularity ratings. And that company hadn't done anything. It had the same crappy products, the same idiotic employees, the same boring, low-budget commercials and the same moronic CEO. Nothing had changed, but the people were suddenly in love with that company. How was that even possible? Kaiba wasn't really worried; the company was still no match for his, but still… If he could find out what those people had done to double up the worth of their company in only a week, he could use the same tactic. And if the Kaiba Corporation doubled in worth… He'd be invincible.

Kaiba got up and starting pacing around his office. It just didn't make any sense. Why were the consumers so interested in that particular company all of a sudden? A month ago, no one had been interested in those lousy products. Their Duel Disks, which they called Duel Monster TGEs, wherever they came up with that ridiculous name, were complete crap. Next to the fact that those gaming systems were obviously based on Kaiba Corps design, they were also downright crappy. Bad, unrealistic holograms, a card reader that could only recognize the most common cards and a lifepoint-counter that got stuck every other minute. And that was only an example; all the products that company produced were utter, low-budget garbage. And yet, people had taken a great interest in those crappy products since last week. But why?

He quickly thought of the answer. Popularity. Popularity was the reason he had become a professional duelist in the first place. If the CEO was in the game, the people would relate to him faster and buy more of his products. Popularity was the reason Duke Devlin's pathetic excuse for a company was still standing. Popularity had to be the reason that the people were so frantic about this company's products all of a sudden. But still… What had Barkly done to make himself so popular? What made people like him so much that they bought his products?

Kaiba stopped pacing and sat back down in his office chair. There was one source that had the answer to all questions: the internet. He started his laptop and immediately searched for the latest media appearances of Jacob Barkly. Hmmm… The article about the near-bankruptcy, a TV-fragment about the worst dressed award the CEO had won, a bad review about their latest product… Nothing interesting so far. Kaiba scrolled down further, hoping he'd find the secret behind the company's sudden success. He clicked on a few more links, reading a few more articles, but he had no luck. It wasn't until he got to the next page when realization hit him. That was it… That was why that moron was suddenly so popular!

He opened the link to the article that had caught his attention. He ended up on one of those gossip sites he despised so much. However, other people, the poor idiots, did like those things, and worse, they believed everything those sites told them. If the Internet of TV said someone was a bad person, they believed that person was bad and vice versa. This article in particular was about that vagabond girlfriend Barkly had picked up from the streets. It was precisely what would win people over: taking in a charity case. The consumers related to Barkly because he had fallen in love with a poor girl. They related to him because he was with one of the 'normal' people, and not some rich, successful businesswoman or a gold-digger had undergone so many plastic surgeries she looked like a Barbie doll. And when people related to a CEO, they tended to buy more of the company's products. The so-called 'family man' image. It was perfect.

If Kaiba could get himself such publicity, he would gain massive popularity, and with that, a massive increase of sales. And a massive amount of money… Yes, that was it. He needed to find his own charity case. However, he didn't want to spent any unnecessary money, or get involved in some sort of fluffy relationship. But where was he going to find a poor girl that was not a fangirl, not some gold-digger and would be willing to appear as his girlfriend without the actual romance part? Was that even possible? Would a girl be willing play the part of his girlfriend without wanting money or some other valuable in return? Probably not… Damn.

Luckily, he was saved from his own depressing thoughts by Mokuba, who entered his office after two short knocks.

"I removed that profile," he announced. "And I promise I won't bug you about getting a date again."

Kaiba smiled ever so slightly. "Good."

"I'll get to bed. It's already eleven thirty," Mokuba said while trying to hide a yawn.

"A good plan indeed. Oh, and Mokuba?"

Mokuba, who was almost at the door, turned around. "Yes?"

"I think being grounded for one week will do."

"Really? Thanks Seto!," Mokuba exclaimed as he ran back into the room and hugged his older brother. "But eh… I actually had plans for tomorrow… and I promised to never do it again…"

"Don't push your luck, kid."

Mokuba smiled sheepishly. "Hey, it was worth a shot. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? You taught me that."

"Yeah, yeah," Seto said with a slight chuckle. "One week, Mokuba."

"But Seto…"

"One week, and no more complaining, or it'll be two again."

"Alright, alright, I give up," Mokuba said, throwing his hands in the air in defeat. "I'm too tired to argue anyway… How you can stay awake that long is a mystery to me."

"Years of practice," Seto chuckled. "Now, get to bed you. You have a very boring Saturday ahead of you."

"That's not funny Seto," Mokuba said in a whining tone. "Ah, you're right, I should go to bed. Goodnight Seto."

"Goodnight kiddo," Seto said with a slight smile as he ruffled Mokuba's hair.

"Oh yeah, Seto? Could you invite Serenity over for dinner tonight? I'd love to hear about the two of you," Mokuba said when he nearly reached the door. He didn't receive an answer, but he didn't mind. His brother was probably already absorbed in work again. He'd ask again in the morning. Now it was time to go to sleep. He let out a small yawn as he walked out of his brother's office, silently closing the door behind him.

Little did the younger Kaiba know that he had just given his brother the information he'd been looking for. The one girl that would be willing to play the part of his girlfriend without the romance and without a reward was_ her_. The Wheeler girl. She was perfect: a poor girl who had to maintain a crappy job in the mall to support her and her brother. A true charity chase. She was a Wheeler, and therefore was bound to hate his guts; she wouldn't want some fluffy, romantic relationship. Plus, she wouldn't want anything valuable in return; by pretending they were boyfriend and girlfriend, she would be able to avoid Taylor and Devlin. That was reward enough for her. She was _perfect_.

All he had to do was make a deal with her. She would get her peace and quiet, he would get his publicity. Besides, it would be fun to see the Mutt sweat. He was probably not too happy about his sister dating his greatest enemy. And on top of that, Mokuba would finally leave him alone. No more annoying dating advice from someone who was five years younger than him. It was perfect. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

He would call her the next morning to make a deal. He'd rather do it immediately, but since it was nearly twelve 'o clock in the evening, the Wheelers were probably asleep already. No, tomorrow morning was his best bet. He could use the rest of the evening to prepare for their meeting.

Tomorrow, the deal would be sealed.

* * *

Serenity hummed softly as she put a few strips of raw bacon in the preheated pan. Preparing breakfast was something she did every day. Since Joey had to work as a chef, Serenity had decided that she would do the cooking around the house so Joey could save his skills for the restaurant. Besides, it was fun.

Just as she cracked an egg on the rim of the pan, she heard the phone ringing. "Joey! Could you get that?," she yelled, being to busy with breakfast to do it herself.

She didn't receive an answer, but the ringing stopped and she could hear Joey's muffled voice coming from the living room, so she assumed he had picked up the phone. She simply continued her task, still humming softly. However, she had to turn her back to the half-done breakfast when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Joey. His face was stone cold, and it was obvious that he was having a hard time controlling his anger as he held out the phone to her. As soon as she took it from his hands, he turned around and walked back to the living room. Well, that was weird… Who had pissed him off so badly?

"Hello, this is Serenity Wheeler," she said into the phone.

"Wheeler. This is Kaiba."

Ah. Well that certainly explained a lot. But why would he want to talk to her? "Mister Kaiba? Why are you calling?"

"I want to make a deal with you, Wheeler."

"A deal?," Serenity asked, confused. Why would Kaiba want to make a deal with her?

"Yes, Wheeler, a deal. Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"No, you don't have to do that. I was just wondering what kind of deal you want to make," she answered as politely as possible.

"I'd rather not discuss this while your pathetic mutt of a brother is within range. Meet me at the park at noon. Don't be late."

Serenity was about to protest, to tell Kaiba that she wasn't interested, but he had already hung up the phone. She stared at it for a while, still wondering whatever Kaiba would want from her. A deal… Why would he want to make a deal with her? What did she have that he wanted? It just didn't make any sense… Admitted; she was curious. Maybe she should go. Then again… he was still Kaiba.

The smell of smoke penetrated her nose, and she was pulled out of her thoughts when she realized that her bacon and eggs were burning. She quickly turned of the gas and waved away the smoke. With pity she looked at the tiny black lumps in the pan. So far for breakfast… Shoot. Well, than it had to be cereal with milk for today. She threw the burned bacon and eggs in the trashcan and put the pan in the sink, letting warm water run down on in to make sure the grease wouldn't permanently attach itself onto the pan. She then got cereal from one of the kitchen cabinets, milk from the fridge, two bowls from another cabinet and two spoons from one of the kitchen drawers.

"Joey! Breakfast!," she yelled to the living room as she put the items in her arms on the table. She smiled at her sleepy brother as he entered the kitchen.

"What happened to the bacon?," he asked, pouting slightly at the tragic loss.

"I burned it… sorry."

"Nah, that's okay sis," Joey said reassuringly as he sat down in one of the chairs around the kitchen table. "What did Moneybags want from you?"

"Oh, he asked if I could meet him at the park today," Serenity said casually as she poured milk over the cereal in her bowl. Oh shoot… she shouldn't have said that. Now that Joey knew, she was bound to meet Kaiba at the park. Well, it was better than staying home alone all day… right?

"A date, huh?," Joey asked mockingly. He hated Kaiba's guts, but it was nice that Serenity would have some company while he was at work, even if it was Moneybags. He just needed to put his own hate for Kaiba aside for Serenity. If she was in love with him, he had to accept that. He was sure that Kaiba would break Serenity's heart sooner or later, but she had to learn that herself. Men were pigs. He already knew that, but Serenity didn't. And when Kaiba did hurt his little sister, he would be there to comfort her… And to kick Kaiba's ass, of course.

"Eh… sort of," Serenity answered, carefully avoiding Joey's gaze by focusing her attention on her cereal. She had yet to tell him that she wasn't dating Kaiba at all. Maybe it would be best to just lie again and say that Kaiba had broken up with her. Than this whole thing would be over without her lie being exposed. She would still have to find a new way to avoid Tristan and Duke, but it was worth it. Yes, that was a good plan. When she got home from her 'date' in the park, she would say that Kaiba had broken up with her. She could always tell Tristan and Duke that she wasn't ready for a new relationship so soon after her breakup. That would keep them away for a little while. Not for too long, but in a year she'd be off to college and those two would be out of the picture for good. Just a year… She could take that. Right?

"Have fun than sis. That is, as much fun as you can have with a stuck-up bastard like Kaiba," Joey said between two bites. "And you know sis, if he tries anything funny, call me, okay? I'm sure I can leave work long enough to kick his ass."

Serenity smiled slightly. "I'll be fine, Joey. Don't worry about me. Besides, I don't think you could leave work for even a minute. That restaurant is packed every Friday and Saturday."

"Alright, I'll trust you on this one. But if anything happens…"

"Yes Joey, I know. Call you. If I can't reach you, call Yugi. If I can't reach Yugi, call Tristan, and so on. If I can't get a hold of anyone, call the cops."

"That's my sister," Joey said with a light laugh as he got up from his chair and put his empty bowl in the sink, turning off the warm water while he was at it. "I gotta go; my boss is gonna kill me if I'm late again."

"Have fun at work ," Serenity replied as she followed Joey's example and put her bowl in the sink as well.

"I could never have fun at that place…," Joey muttered as he grabbed his bag. "One day, I'll be the chef in my own restaurant."

"You go, big brother," Serenity encouraged him. Even though she knew her brother had a long way and a lot of money to go, he would be able to open his own restaurant someday. She was sure of it.

"Alright than. I'll probably be home late, don't wait up for me. I brought a steak from the restaurant for you for dinner tonight. Keep your mobile with you at all time. Call me if Kaiba pulls something. And if…"

"Joey. I'll be fine. Trust me," Serenity said in a reassuring tone. "Now get to work, or you'll be late again and your boss will kill you, remember?"

"Okay, okay, I'm going," Joey said, grinning sheepishly. "Bye sis, have a nice day."

"You too Joey," she said as he left the room. She heard the door slamming shut only seconds later. Once again, she was alone in the small apartment.

She hated it. Every Saturday, Joey was at work. Well, he was at work everyday, minus Sunday, but it wasn't as bad the rest of the week, because she had school to worry about. On Saturday she had an entire day to herself, and she hated it. She had more than enough to do; the household, studying for her next test... She loved the peace and quiet, yes, but after a few hours it got very boring. Her friends also had jobs, so she couldn't call them either; she was the only one who was still in high school. She herself had a job as well, but that was only three evenings in the week: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Gosh, how she hated her job. She worked in one of the many clothing stores in the Domino Mall. She made little money, didn't get a break, couldn't get along with her snobby colleagues and always got the worst customers. If she hadn't needed the money to help pay the rent for the apartment, she would've quit already. Well, at least she didn't have to work today. And she wouldn't be alone the entire day; she had an appointment with Kaiba at noon, which was in an hour and a half. She still wondered what he wanted from her…

Serenity spend the rest of her free time cleaning, studying for an upcoming math test and fantasizing about what Kaiba would want. Before she had realized it, it was already a quarter to twelve. The park was about ten minutes walking from her home, so it was the perfect time to leave. She turned off the TV, grabbed her coat and purse and made her way out of the apartment.

It was, once again, a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the air was cloudless… It was truly one of those beautiful, cliché summer days. Serenity loved those days; they made her feel so happy inside. And she wasn't the only one. Everyone she met on her way to park was happily smiling and greeting her, and she smiled and greeted back just a happily, glad that everyone was in such a good mood today.

After a short and relaxing walk, Serenity arrived at the park. She wondered if Kaiba was already there; she was five minutes early. Well, the only way to find out was to look for him. The park was fairly big; maybe they should've agreed to meet at a particular spot. Ah well, a little walk around the park wouldn't kill her. On the contrary; it would be nice and refreshing.

Surprisingly, there weren't many people around. Usually the park was crowded on a nice day like today. Well, most people were probably at the pool; the outdoor pool had just been opened that day after it had been closed down for a week to be cleaned. Not that she minded; it was actually quite nice to have an entire park nearly all to herself on such a beautiful day.

She made her way through the park in a slow pace, enjoying the smell of the many flowers, the sight of the few children running around and the warmth of the sun on her skin. She was heading towards the spot where she had bumped into Kaiba the previous day; it seemed the most logical place to meet him again. And indeed, as she approached that spot, she saw him standing there. He was wearing his dark blue trenchcoat, which would normally give him an intimidating look, but the warm glow of the sun on his figure made even him look nicer than normal.

"It was about time," he growled as she approached him. It seemed as if she hadn't heard him; she gave him a slight, polite smile before she stopped before him, not responding to his comment.

"Good afternoon, mister Kaiba," she greeted him, while giving him a small bow.

"Cut the crap, Wheeler. I don't have much time, so let's get down to business."

"Yes, of course," she answered, knowing that Kaiba would probably have tons of work to do. "Why did you want to meet me here?"

"Like I said earlier, I want to make a deal with you. Regarding yesterdays… unfortunate events."

"I don't understand," Serenity said, not getting where Kaiba was going here.

"You see, Wheeler, you pretended that we were… involved," Kaiba started, cringing of the thought of actually being 'involved' with a Wheeler.

"I really am sorry about that, mister Kaiba. I was desperate and…"

"Yes, I know. Pin Head and Dice Boy got on your nerves. That's not the point."

"Than… what is the point?," Serenity asked, now getting curious.

"Well, you created the impression we were together. I want to keep it that way."

"What?," she asked, baffled. Kaiba wanted to pretend they were boyfriend and girlfriend?

"I want you to pretend that you are my love interest."

"Why?," she asked, still not getting it.

"It is good publicity. My sales will increase rapidly if I were to adept this so called 'family man' image," Kaiba explained. "And in return, you will not be bothered by those two idiots anymore."

Serenity blinked a few times. Pretending to be with Kaiba? It was tempting, she had to admit that. Tristan and Duke wouldn't follow her around, Joey would treat her more like an adult… But still, if anyone found out, she was in major trouble.

"I don't know… What if someone finds out?," she spoke her thoughts.

"That will not happen. There are, of course, some precautions that we must take to make sure of that. We will need to address each other by our first name, know some basic details about each other and set a straight story about a few special occasions, for example where we first met after Battle City and where we went on our first date."

"I see…," Serenity mumbled, getting more tempted by the second. How bad could it be? All she had to do was pretend she was Kaiba's girlfriend. That couldn't be too hard, right? And she would get so much in return. Peace and quiet, which were nice, but above all, respect from her older brother. It would be perfect.

"If I were to agree… What do I have to do?," she asked, just to be sure she didn't have to spend all of her free time with Kaiba.

"Not too much. You shall accompany me on several special occasions and we shall go out a few times to make sure no one shall suspect that we are not truly involved. Aside from that, you shall have dinner at my home tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Yes. Mokuba is most eager to hear about our… relationship."

"Oh…," Serenity said in understanding, remembering the previous night, when Mokuba had discovered that she was his brother's 'girlfriend'.

She really was tempted now. All she had to do was tag along on some business party's and go out on a few fake dates. She knew that Kaiba would make sure that no one would ever find out that they were faking it, or else make sure that the person that did find out never told another living soul. He would get his good publicity and sell more of his products, and she would get her peace and respect. They would both win. Besides, what could possibly go wrong? It was foolproof.

"Well?," Kaiba urged, getting impatient. He didn't have all the time in the world; he had work to do. Rapports to write, meetings to attend to, people to fire. She had to make a decision, and fast, or he was withdrawing his offer.

She hesitated. It was so tempting… But she knew Joey would hate it. He did say that he was okay with her and Kaiba, but she knew that he hated it. She knew he couldn't stand the thought of her being close to the man he despised so much. On the other hand… she wasn't really having a relationship with Kaiba, so it wasn't that bad… She felt horrible about lying to him, and to everyone, but still… Apart from Tristan, Duke and Joey, everyone was happy about the two of them. Well, everyone… She hadn't told everyone yet. The only others who knew were Mokuba and Yugi, but she was sure that Mai, Tea and Bakura would be happy for her too. Overall, she would hurt more than she would heal if she told the truth. And Joey would finally respect her. It was selfish, true, but it was about time she did something that _she _wanted. Joey himself always told her she should think about herself first, others second. Well, now she was.

She looked up from the ground, staring right into Kaiba's eyes with a determination she didn't knew she possessed.

"We have a deal."

* * *

_And that end the third chapter of this story. From now on, things will get more interesting, I promise. I personally loved writing the part between the two Kaiba brother and, of course, the part between Seto and Serenity. The part that was hard for me was the whole set up, with the paper and all that. I have no idea how business works. I do follow Economics as a course at school, but we're stuck at interest rates. I have no idea about business, so I'm sorry if that part is a bit amateuristic. I'm more of a medical person. Heart problems? No biggie. Business? Eh... yeah... not my thing. I'll go and get some information on that stuff later on; I hadn't had the time to do so until now. Oh, and just to mention, the titles of the chapter reflect how Seto and Serenity see each other. Just so you know. Anyway, I've talked long enough. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and if you have the time, please leave me a review._

_Mirokusonlybabe: Thanks! Knowing myself, I think they will end up dating for real... eventually ;)._

_SilentShipping Addict: I know, Joey's reaction is OOC, but I needed him to react well for the sake of the story. Anyway, thanks for the review!_

_Ultimate Ending: Thank you! I was really happy with your review; kind words always help a writer. Joey's reaction was indeed very OOC, but I just needed him to react so happy so Serenity would have a reason to keep pretending she's with Kaiba. Anyway, thanks a lot for your awesome review!^^_

_D-light123: Thank you! Your review can be described by the exact same word ;)._

_Autumn Thief: Thanks, I'm really glad you liked it! Hopefully you liked this chapter as well^^_

_XxXDarkMagicianXxX: Thank you so much! I hope I updated soon enough for, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter^^. And yes, that makes perfect sense XD.: _

_111: Wow, that is one if the best compliment I've ever gotten. Thank you so much! I'm really glad my writing is entertaining^^. Joey's reaction... yep, it IS OOC, but sometimes OOCness is needed for the sake of the plot. Joey needed to be understanding so Serenity would have a reason to keep lying about Kaiba. Anyway, thank you very much for your nice review and I hope my update was soon enough for you! :)_

_Elias: Thanks!_

_Dark Onyx: Thank you for your review. You are right, I should take more time to re-read my chapters after finishing it. I did this time; I re-read it three times and waited for two days. Hopefully there are some less errors in this one. However, those comma's at the end of the sentences aren't errors, at least I don't think they are. I've been taught that I should always put a comma in those kind of sentences, even if the speaking part ends with three dots or a question mark. I don't know if that's typical Dutch or not; this country is known for its weird spelling rules. I'm sorry, but I'll keep at those comma's. I'm so used to doing that I probably couldn't stop with them if I wanted to. Thank you for noticing though; it's very nice to have some constructive criticism. And you're not sounding arrogant, don't worry about that. Anyway, thank you for the review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter^^._


	4. Confidant

**Random Stranger**

**_Summary: _**_In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. Silentshipping._

**_Disclaimer: _**_As you all probably guessed already, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!_

**_Author's note: _**_I finally bring you another chapter of Random Stranger! I really am sorry for the late update; I've been a bit sick lately, and I had a major allergic reaction to the antibiotics they gave me for it, so I really couldn't write. However, this chapter is by far the longest I have ever written; hopefully you'll all see that as a little peace offer on my behalf. Anyway, thanks for being patient with me and I hope you enjoy this chapter^^_

* * *

**_Chapter 4: Confidant_**

* * *

An aggravated growl left Kaiba's throat as he tried to adjust the silver cufflinks that decorated the cuffs of his shirt. However, this seemingly simple task was a lot harder than usual with a fifteen-year old bouncing around the room, rattling on and on about the most random things. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"Mokuba."

"Yes, Seto?," he asked, the innocence dripping from his voice as he looked at his older brother with those big eyes.

"Would you mind?," Kaiba growled, still struggling with the cufflinks.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Mokuba said with a sheepish grin before he made his way over to his brother and swiftly pinned the cufflinks in place. "Nervous, are we?"

"Nervous?," Kaiba said sceptically as he straightened his shirt. "For what, my own girlfriend?"

The truth was, that Kaiba was indeed a bit nervous. This was the first time he and the Wheeler girl would really have to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend. If Mokuba saw through them… then he'd have to find a new way to crank up his sails. Plus, his little brother would never, _ever _let him live this whole thing down. On the other hand, if they could convince Mokuba that they were truly in love, they could fool anyone.

"What time did you say we'll be picking Serenity up again?," Mokuba asked after a short silence.

"Six. And _I_ am picking her up. You're staying here."

"Ah, so you want some time alone with her, huh, Casanova?," Mokuba teased as he nudged his older brother in the ribs.

"Oh, shut up," Kaiba muttered. To avoid any more of Mokuba's ridiculous gibberish, he walked out of his bedroom and descended down the stairs that would lead him to the hallway. Unfortunately for him, Mokuba was soon to follow.

"Come on, we all know you don't want me to come because you want to snog her," Mokuba continued as he followed his older brother into the hallway. "Just admit it already!"

"The reason you're not going with me is because you are grounded. One week, remember? And if you don't stop that annoying behavior, we're back to two weeks."

"Alright, alright," Mokuba said hastily. "Geez, for someone who's about to get some, you are incredibly cranky."

Kaiba shot Mokuba a dangerous glare before he walked towards the front door. "I'll be going now. Tell the chef to have the first course ready at six thirty precise. Make sure to be ready yourself by that time too."

"Yes, sir," Mokuba exclaimed as he tapped his forehead with his middle and index finger before he turned around to give his brother's message to the cook.

Seto chuckled lightly at his brother's reaction before he quickly grabbed his blue trenchcoat, which was handed to him by the butler, and made his way out of his mansion. His limousine was already waiting for him on the driveway, his personal chauffeur holding open the door for him. Without looking twice at the man, Kaiba entered the expensive car. As soon as the chauffeur had taken his place behind the wheel, Kaiba ordered him to drive to the Wheeler residence.

Soon enough, they were well on their way. Since it would take about half an hour to get to Wheeler's apartment, which was on the other side of town, Kaiba retrieved his mobile phone from the pocket of his trenchcoat and dialed the number of one of his must trusted business contacts. His contract with that company would soon end, and he needed to know if they were interested in renewing it or not.

He spent about twenty-five minutes on the phone. When he had finally reached an agree with the other, annoyingly stubborn CEO, he ended the conversation with a heavy sigh. Glad that was over. And he would arrive at the Wheeler residence in mere minutes. Man, did he have a perfect timing.

Indeed, after a few minutes, the car was pulled up in front of an old, scruffy-looking building. Just what he had expected from a Wheeler. Kaiba got out of the car and made his way over to the building. He knew the number of Wheeler's apartment was 428, so he needed to be at the fourth floor. He looked around the building's hallway for a while, but spotted no elevator. He wasn't really surprised; no wonder such a filthy, pathetic building didn't have proper transportation.

So, he turned to his left, where there was a staircase, and climbed up the stairs to the fourth floor. Once there, he had another look around. Six apartments on one floor… Small places they must be. Again, no surprise there. With that minimum wage Wheeler was earning, this place would be the only thing he could afford with those crazy prices on the house market nowadays.

Kaiba strolled past a few doors, occasionally drawing back in disgust. Geez, the people who lived her certainly had no idea what the word 'cleaning' meant. The mutt fitted right in. Since it was so disgusting, Kaiba was relieved when he finally reached the door to apartment 428.

To his pleasant surprise, the door seemed clean. Well, cleaner than the rest of the doors he had past so far. Wheeler was lucky that his sister occasionally did some cleaning around their place. He didn't even want to know what would happen if Wheeler was completely on his own. There would probably be a headline in the papers after about a week: 'Man chokes on own filth'. Oh, that would be the day…

With sheer reluctance, Kaiba rang the doorbell.

"Coming!," he heard a female voice yelling through the door. He tapped his foot impatiently while he waited, not wanting to be in that filthy building a second longer than necessary. After about a minute or two, the door was finally opened.

"It was about time," he sneered immediately, annoyed by her slowness.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't find my necklace," Serenity responded as she touched the silver piece of jewellery around her neck.

Kaiba didn't answer; he was too busy scanning her outfit to see if she had dressed properly. He had to admit, she looked nice. Her outfit was simple, but nice. She was wearing a long, black skirt that reached down to her calves and a short-sleeved, white blouse that was trimmed with lace, which formed some beautiful patrons on the otherwise boring piece of clothing. On her feet were a pair of simple white pumps, making her look slightly taller. Her hair was pulled up in a loose bun, two locks of hair pulled from the grasp of the pin, each one framing one side of her face. The silver necklace and its matching bracelet finished off the simple, but elegant outfit. Kaiba simply couldn't find any flaws.

Serenity, however, figured that the long glare Kaiba was giving her meant that her outfit was completely out of tone. "I can change, if you want."

"That won't be necessary," Kaiba responded. She actually looked decent, which was strange for a Wheeler. Besides, it would take way to much time for her to change. "Let's go already."

Serenity nodded and quickly snatched her coat and purse from the hallstand. She then stepped out of the apartment, locking the door behind her.

"Do you remember everything we've discussed?," Kaiba asked her as the two of them made their way out of the building.

"Yes, I believe I do," Serenity responded, thinking back of that afternoon. She and Kaiba had spent a few hours at the park setting up the story of their relationship. After all, if someone asked where they had gone out on their first date, it would look strange if one claimed they'd had dinner at a fancy restaurant, while the other said they'd went to see a movie. Kaiba had thought of everything; nothing was left to chance. She could understand why he would ask her if she remembered everything; all that could ruin their plan now was a slip of the tongue.

"You _believe _you do?," Kaiba asked sceptically, one eyebrow raised. "You need to know for sure, otherwise there is no reason for us to proceed with this."

"Yes, of course. I know I do," Serenity hastily corrected herself.

She quickened her pace when they reached the ground floor, both to open the door and to get away from Kaiba, who was definitely not in a good mood. With a small push the nearly ancient door squeaked open, granting them access to the outside world, something Kaiba was particularly happy about. The both of them quickly exited the building, ready to go to the Kaiba Mansion. However, when Serenity saw in what they would be travelling, her jaw dropped.

"What are you waiting for, Wheeler?," Kaiba, who was already standing next to the car, asked when he noticed she had stopped walking.

"_That_ is your car?," she asked as she stared in awe at the huge limousine that was waiting for the two of them.

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"No," she lied as she quickly made her way over to the expensive limousine. Actually, it was a problem. This was a poor neighborhood. There were no limousines in poor neighborhoods. She could already spot a few people looking out their windows to see who was fortunate enough to drive around in a limousine. If anyone found it was her that was 'the lucky one', she was in big trouble. The people here didn't really fancy the rich that much… and that was a severe understatement. And she really didn't want to get on the bad side of the people in her building. The best thing she could do now was walking fast, hiding her face and desperately praying that no one would see her.

So she did. Luckily the car wasn't too far away, otherwise she'd really have a problem. After giving the man that held the door open for her and Kaiba a friendly nod, she quickly slid inside the car, immediately scooting over to make room for Kaiba. Man, was she glad the windows were made of tinted glass…

After Kaiba got in too, the chauffeur closed the door behind them and got into the drivers seat. Soon enough, Serenity felt the car moving. She leaned back with a sigh of relief, happy that she had made it out of her building without being seen.

"What was that about?"

"What?," Serenity asked startled as she directed her gaze at Kaiba.

"You hid your face as if you were some celebrity with a zit," Kaiba said sarcastically. "What were you trying to pull?"

"Oh, that… Well, you see, the people in my building don't really like rich people. If they knew I'd be driving around in a limousine… Let's just say it wouldn't be pretty."

"And just how do you expect to hide from them when we inform the media of 'us'?," Kaiba asked, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"I… I don't know," she said softly. She'd never even thought about that. The media would eat her alive. Why hadn't she thought of that before? Damn…

"If it is necessary, I can assign you a security guard," Kaiba proposed. After all, his 'girlfriend' had to stay in one piece if he wanted to flash her around. Then again, if she was in the hospital, or even dead, he would get even more sympathy, and with that, more sales… But still, he wouldn't do that. He was not evil enough to let some innocent girl get beaten just because he wanted more money. Even if she was a Wheeler.

"I don't think I need that," Serenity said with a small giggle. She could already picture a huge man in a suit following her around everywhere she went, kicking everyone out of her way. "But thanks for the offer."

Kaiba nodded curtly before he leaned back in his seat with a sigh, hoping that the ride would be over soon. The dinner he would be able to handle; Mokuba was there too. But this, being all alone with her… It was just not his thing. He only knew how to make contact with two types of people: The people he cared about, which was basically just Mokuba, and the people he did business with. Well, he was doing business with her… sort of. But still… this was definitely something else than having a meeting with some old men in ugly suits. Not that it mattered. He was still a Kaiba and she was still a Wheeler. Business or not, she was far below him, and he didn't have to respect anyone that was beneath him. There was absolutely no need for any personal contact whatsoever. She was just another pathetic loser, so he would treat her like he would treat any other pathetic loser. Like crap.

Satisfied with his conclusion, Kaiba looked out the window, letting his thoughts wander to the reports he had to write after this pathetic dinner was over.

Serenity's thoughts, however, couldn't focus on anything _but _the dinner. All she could do was go over everything she and Kaiba had talked about over and over again. She couldn't afford to screw this up. Not only would she have to explain to her brother and friends that she was still as single as ever, she would also let Kaiba down. And he trusted her. Well, at least a bit, otherwise he wouldn't have asked her to play the part of his girlfriend. Which was, as she thought about it, actually very flattering. She simply couldn't make any mistakes during this dinner, for both her and Kaiba's sake. She had to be flawless. Flawless and perfect. She could do that. Right?

A sigh left her lips as she carefully leaned back in her seat. She had a few minutes to relax before she'd have to smile, answer questions and pretend to be in love. So just for now, she closed her eyes and send her thoughts to the beautiful white beach that never failed to calm her down.

And so the two of them remained the rest of the trip; leaned back in their seats, their minds wandered off to a subject that calmed them down. A silence lingered between them, only occasionally disturbed by some noises from the outside, but neither of them minded. The silence was very comfortable; neither of them knew what to say to the other anyway, so not saying anything at all seemed like a good solution. Unfortunately for the both of them, the ride was over far too soon; after what seemed like only seconds, the limousine had come to a halt in front of the front door of the Kaiba Mansion.

Both of them let out a silent, simultaneous sigh when Kaiba's personal chauffeur opened the car door for them. Kaiba, being closest to the door, got out first, quickly followed by Serenity, who wanted to stay close to Kaiba since she found the chauffeur rather creepy. However, when she took a glance at what was ahead of her, she forgot all about the creepy chauffeur.

It was _huge_. With her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open, Serenity looked up at the gigantic mansion, taking in its glorious structure. Yes, that was Kaiba's house alright. The whole place just screamed his name, even though she couldn't quite figure out why. It was probably the intimidating posture, or the icy glow it seemed to have. Either way, it was… _big_.

"Before you ask, yes, _that _is my house," Kaiba said sarcastically, referring to her blunt question about his car. "Now, do you want to stay there staring at it like a moron or do you actually want to come inside?"

"Inside sounds good," Serenity said quickly as she tore her eyes from the mansion and followed Kaiba to the front door, not wanting to be left alone on the doorstep with the creepy chauffeur.

Before the two of them had even reached the door, it was already opened by an elderly gentleman who had a friendly smile on his face. "Welcome home, mister Kaiba."

Kaiba never answered the man; he simply stepped inside as if he wasn't even there. Serenity was quick to follow him, though she flashed the man a smile of appreciation on her way in.

"Miss Wheeler, I presume?," the man asked her. "Ah, yes… Mister Kaiba has told me all about you, and I must say…"

"Fong. You're on the clock. Make small talk in your own time," Kaiba spat at the man, who was apparently named Fong. Serenity's best guess was that he was the butler.

"Yes, sir. I apologize," Fong said, the smile never leaving his face. "May I take your coats?"

Kaiba, for whom this was a routine, turned around to let his butler take his coat. When the butler approached Serenity, however, she quickly took it off herself and then handed it to him.

"And your purse?," Fong asked, looking at the tiny bag in Serenity's hands.

"Oh… If you don't mind, I'd like to keep that with me," she said quickly as she held her purse closer to her. Her cell phone was in that purse, and she had to keep that with her in case Joey called. She would've put it in her pocket… but there weren't any pockets in her shirt nor her skirt. So she would just have to keep her purse with her.

"Alright then, miss," the butler said with a slight smile as he took a step back. "Dinner is prepared and waiting for the both of you," he then announced, more to Kaiba then to her.

"Excellent," Kaiba responded, drawing Serenity's attention back to him. When she did, she had to suppress a gasp.

So far, she'd only seen him while he was wearing his trenchcoat, which basically swallowed him from neck to ankle. But now that the coat was hanging on the hallstand, she got a good look at what he was wearing… And how incredibly handsome it made him look.

He was wearing a simple, blue shirt that hugged his torso and showed his every muscle. And he had quite some muscle… It was obvious he worked out. But the thing that really caught her attention was what was underneath that. A pair of black pants, which was probably custom made, since it fitted his long legs like a glove, covered his bottom. Geez, did those pants bring out his… dare she even think it… ass. And man, did he have an ass…

"Wheeler. What are you staring at?"

"Nothing!," Serenity said quickly as she directed her gaze to an empty piece of wall, a huge blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Of course," Kaiba stated dryly, not even noticing her face was as red as a tomato. "If you're done looking around like an idiot, we can go to the dining room."

With her head low, so no one would see her bright red cheeks, she quickly made her way over to Kaiba, desperately hoping her face would soon regain its original color. She was lucky that Kaiba wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to her; he was just staring right ahead as he led the way to the dining room.

They made their way through a maze of hallways before Kaiba came to an abrupt halt, almost causing Serenity to bump into him.

"We're here," Kaiba announced as he gestured towards two large, oak doors, behind which the dining room was. "You know what you have to do."

With that, he swung open the two oak doors, revealing a huge room that was probably bigger than Serenity's entire apartment. Before she even had the chance to look around, both her and Kaiba's attention was drawn to the raven-haired boy that was standing in front of them.

"Hi!," he greeted them, an innocent look in his eyes.

"Hi Mokuba," Serenity answered with a small smile.

"Aha! I knew it!," Mokuba exclaimed as soon as he made eye contact with Serenity.

"And exactly _what _do you know?," Kaiba questioned him, his eyebrows raised.

"You two snogged, didn't you?"

Serenity's eyes widened and her face, which was still red from before, now turned even redder. Kaiba, however, just let out an aggravated sigh.

"And what makes you think that?," he asked coolly.

"Your girlfriend's face," Mokuba stated simply.

"What? No, we didn't… I'm red because…" She stopped. Because what? Because she'd been caught staring at her fake boyfriend's ass? Yeah, that would be much better…

"Because…?," Mokuba urged, an evil grin on his face.

"Okay, fine… we snogged," Serenity lied quickly, finding that a much better explanation than the actual truth.

"I knew it!," Mokuba exclaimed happily as he darted back into the room.

Serenity let out a sigh of relief and was about to follow Mokuba into the room when Kaiba stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Good work," he told her before he let go of her and walked into the dining room. He had to admit, she played that out brilliantly. The blush, the denial… If he hadn't known any better, he would've bought that snog story too. Maybe this thing would be easier than he'd thought.

Little did Kaiba know that Serenity had absolutely no idea what she was doing. She was just glad that no one had found out the actual truth. Besides, this might have increased Kaiba's trust in her. Now all she had to do was survive the rest of the evening…

She took a deep breath before she walked into the room, which was, now she got a good look at it, absolutely stunning. It was rather simply decorated; a long, mahogany dining table stood in the middle of the room, a chandelier hanging from the ceiling above it, giving the wood a nice, warm glow. That was it; there was no further furniture in the room, but that wasn't necessary; a few paintings and other decorations around the room made it very beautiful and cozy.

Three places were set at the table. Two of them had already been claimed by the Kaiba brothers; Kaiba himself sat at the head of the table and Mokuba was seated at Kaiba's right hand side, leaving Serenity with the spot on Kaiba's left, right across from Mokuba. She quietly sat down in the surprisingly uncomfortable chair and placed her purse on the floor, right next to her seat. When she looked up again, she purposely glanced at one of the paintings on the wall, to avoid making eye contact with either of the Kaiba's. She was sure her face would turn bright red the moment she looked them in the eye.

"So, Serenity," Mokuba said after about a minute or so, forcing Serenity to look at him. Luckily, her face kept its normal color. "How did you and Seto meet? I mean, after Battle City, that is?"

"He hasn't told you yet?," she asked, a bit surprised. She'd hoped that Kaiba had been over this with Mokuba, so she wouldn't have to.

"Nah, I wanted to hear it from you. I'm sure you can tell it a lot more romantically," Mokuba grinned, making Serenity giggle a little.

"Alright then, but I can't promise you anything sappy," she said, smiling slightly. Now for the actual story… She knew this. She'd been over this. She could tell this. She could do this.

"It was evening, and I couldn't sleep. Joey was at staying at Mai's apartment that night and the house just felt… empty. So I figured I'd go out for a walk, you know, to think things over. It helps me relax. And so I did. After a while, I found myself standing in front of a small coffee shop. I'm not sure why I went there… But I decided I'd go inside, maybe get a hot drink to warm up a little. When I walked in, I saw that the entire place was empty… Except for one person." She took a glance at Kaiba, to make sure that Mokuba understood she was talking about him.

"Uhu," Mokuba said, nodding in understanding. "Go on."

"Well, since I wasn't in the mood to be alone, I asked him if he'd mind if I sat next to him."

"And he didn't mind, right?," Mokuba asked, a big smile on his face.

"No. No, he didn't," she confirmed.

"So, what happened next? Did you share a romantic cup of coffee?"

"Eh… not really, no," Serenity said with a slight smile. "I don't drink coffee. And we were rather quiet. But it was actually quite nice. I was already happy that I wasn't alone anymore."

"Ah, how cute," Mokuba squealed. "You see, that is exactly the reason I wanted you to tell the story instead of Seto. If I had asked him where you met, he would've just said: 'At a coffee shop'."

Serenity let out a small giggle, knowing that Mokuba was right; that was exactly what Kaiba would've said. Kaiba himself, however, wasn't that amused. Luckily, the Kaiba's personal chef decided to bring in the first course at that moment, saving Mokuba and Serenity from Kaiba's wrath.

The chef placed a bowl in front of each of them, bowed in respect and quickly returned to the kitchen. Serenity curiously looked into her bowl and saw that it contained tomato soup, which was her absolute favorite. How Kaiba knew that, she had no idea, but she definitely didn't mind. This kind of simple food was the thing she knew and loved; fancy food was just not her thing. So she gladly picked up the spoon that the chef had placed on the table with that bowl and started eating.

For a while, nothing was heard except for the sound of metal spoons clinging against the stone bowl. That was until Mokuba, who was apparently Speedy Gonzales when it came to food, finished his soup and decided to continue asking Serenity about her relationship with his brother.

"Say, Serenity. What was your first date like?"

"Mokuba, will you leave her alone already?," Kaiba spat at his little brother, hoping he would just drop the subject. The more he asked, the bigger the chance she would make a mistake.

"No, it's okay," Serenity smiled, causing Kaiba to let out a low grunt. "I don't mind."

"You see, Seto. _She _doesn't mind," Mokuba said defensively.

"What we do when we're alone is simply none of _your _business," Kaiba growled, not even realising how _wrong _that comment had just sounded. Both Serenity and Mokuba had to cover their mouths to prevent that they'd burst out in laughter. Kaiba didn't seem to notice; he was already back to eating his soup, not paying attention to either of them anymore.

"You know… I don't think I want to know anymore," Mokuba said quickly, barely keeping his laugh in. "I withdraw my question."

"Wise choice," Serenity said with a serious nod. However, her seriousness soon faded; both her and Mokuba finally snapped, resolving in the both of them bursting into laughter.

"Did I miss something?," Kaiba asked, his eyebrows raised in wonder. His comment only made the two laugh louder, much to his displeasing. Luckily for Kaiba, the chef again chose an excellent time to bring in the food; his appearance made Serenity and Mokuba stop their childish behavior. He took away the empty (or in Serenity's case nearly empty) bowls and replaced them with a plate. He then disappeared back into the kitchen to prepare dessert.

Serenity looked down at her plate and was, again, pleasantly surprised when she saw that the main course wasn't fancy either; it was just a steak, some mashed potatoes and a bit of spinach, which was, again, her favorite food.

"Seto? Not to be rude, but… since when do you eat mashed potatoes?," Mokuba asked his older brother. He had never seen his brother eating such… well, _plain_ food.

"Since we have a guest who enjoys mashed potatoes," Kaiba simply answered as he picked up his fork. He could understand that Mokuba was confused; it had been a very long times since he'd eaten anything like this. He liked the fancy food better, but he had to pretend to care about the Wheeler girl, so he had told the chef to serve her favorite food. It wasn't even that bad. At least it wasn't something horrible like pizza or tacos. This was just a bit plain. He could live with that.

The three of them ate in silence again. Kaiba had no interest in a conversation with either of the two others, and Mokuba and Serenity wisely kept quiet to make sure they wouldn't burst out in laughter again. However, when everyone was nearly finished with the main course, the silence was once again interrupted, this time by a happy music that suddenly started playing.

"Oh, that's my phone!," Serenity quickly realised as she retrieved the object from her purse. The caller ID told her that Joey was calling her; she had to pick up. "Can I…"

"Go," Kaiba approved as he gestured towards the door. She gave him a small, grateful smile and quickly made her way out of the dining room. Once in the hallway, she answered the still ringing phone.

"Serenity Wheeler speaking."

"Serenity? It's Joey. Where are you? Why aren't you at home?," Joey nearly yelled through the phone, causing Serenity to keep her phone at a safe distance from her ear.

"Well, you were working, so I decided I'd have dinner at Seto's place," she answered him, mentally praising herself for remembering to use Kaiba's first name.

"You're with Kaiba?," Joey asked, a bit dumbfolded. He hadn't even thought of that possibility yet; he'd just assumed she went out on one of her random strolls again.

"Yes, I am. Is that a problem? I figured I'd be home before you anyway."

"I got off work early," Joey explained. "But it's okay. Take your time."

"Thanks Joey."

"But don't even think about doing anything inappropriate!," Joey warned her, causing Serenity to smile a little. Joey wouldn't be Joey if he didn't throw in a warning.

"I won't Joey, I promise. I just thought it would be nice to have some company during dinner. Besides, Mokuba's here too, so nothing will happen between Seto and me."

"It better not," Joey muttered. "Well, have fun then, sis. Just make sure you'll get home safe."

"I will Joey. Goodbye."

"Bye sis."

Serenity hung up the phone and let out a heavy sigh. Joey actually got an evening off work, and she just had to pick that evening to go to have dinner with Kaiba. Well, Kaiba had picked the evening, but still… Then again, Joey would probably spend the entire evening complaining about work before he fell asleep on the couch, like he did every time. She was actually quite glad to be away from her home, at least for now. Maybe this thing wasn't so bad after all.

She quietly returned to the dining room and reclaimed her seat. "Sorry," she apologized before she put her phone back in her purse and sat up straight. It was only then she realised dessert had been served; a beautiful strawberry ice coup was standing in front of her. Again, her absolute favorite; she loved strawberries to bits.

"Your brother, I assume?," Kaiba casually asked her between two bites.

"Yes… he was off work early today and wanted to know where I was."

"I see," Kaiba said before he returned his attention towards his dessert. He couldn't help but notice that Wheeler was way too protective of his sister. For crying out loud, Kaiba himself wasn't even that protective of Mokuba, and he had been kidnapped multiple times. Frankly, he felt a bit sorry for the girl; she was being smothered by her brother, and he could see she was suffering from it. Then again, that ridiculous Mutt made everyone's life take a turn for the worst, so this wasn't even that strange. But that didn't make it any less pathetic.

Serenity picked up her spoon and started eating her dessert, glad that they had stopped talked about Joey before Kaiba insulted him one way or another. He definitely had a lot more self-control than she though he had, and she was glad for it. She was, however, wondering why Mokuba hadn't made a comment; he usually would've jumped in to give his thought too. When Serenity looked up, she immediately knew why.

His face was completely covered in ice- and whipped cream, giving the already cute boy an absolutely adorable appearance. Serenity couldn't help but let out a small giggle, which caught the attention of both the Kaiba brothers.

"What's so funny?," Mokuba asked, not even realising his entire face was covered in his own dessert.

"You have a little something on your face," Kaiba, who had also noticed Mokuba's new look, told him with a smirk on his face.

Mokuba took his spoon and used it as a mirror, immediately understanding why Serenity and his brother were laughing it him. "I'm gonna go wash my face," he said quickly, a bit embarrassed. He got up and hurried out of the room to clean himself, leaving Kaiba and Serenity to finish their desserts.

As soon as Mokuba left the room, an uncomfortable silence fell between the two 'lovers'. At first it wasn't that bad; they both had their dessert to occupy themselves with. However, when they finished that final course, Serenity felt a bit uneasy. Should she just keep quiet or should she try to start a conversation? She really had no idea.

"Thank you for dinner," she decided to say after a short while, hoping she could have a nice, normal conversation with Kaiba for once.

"Don't mention it," Kaiba said without even looking at her. His mind was already absorbed in plans for a new and improved Duel Disk system; he wasn't really paying attention to her. He was just hoping she'd shut up so he could focus.

Fortunately, Serenity got the hint and kept quiet, not wanting to disturb Kaiba in whatever he was thinking about. So she stayed silent, as did he, until Mokuba came back, his face clean this time.

"Better?," he asked, doing a twirl to show off his now clean appearance.

"Much," both Kaiba and Serenity said at the same time, causing Mokuba to smile at them.

"Only a few months of dating and you can already read each other's thoughts. Ah, young love, young love," Mokuba sighed, a dreamy look in his eyes.

"Sometimes I wonder if one of us was switched at birth," Kaiba said sarcastically. However, the slight smirk on his face let know that he was just kidding, causing Serenity and Mokuba to laugh as well.

"Yeah, yeah, and you're actually the son of a famous professor and a high-ranked businessperson, huh?," Mokuba joked, nudging his brother in the ribs.

"Naturally," Kaiba answered, a smug smirk on his face.

Serenity couldn't help but laugh; she never knew Kaiba actually had a sense of humor. Unfortunately, their fun was disturbed by Fong, the butler, who apparently didn't have the great timing the chef possessed. Nevertheless, he did come to bring some pleasant news.

"Mister Kaiba, mister Mokuba, if you and your guest are ready, the chef shall serve a hot drink in the living room."

"I want hot coco!," Mokuba immediately squealed as he jumped up from his chair. "With whipped cream!"

"Of course, mister Mokuba," Fong nodded, a warm smile on his face. "What do you wish, miss Wheeler?"

"A cup of tea would be nice, thank you."

Fong gave the three a small bow and made his way out of the dining room to give the chef their orders. Serenity wondered why the butler hadn't asked Kaiba what he wanted, but she assumed that he knew what he was doing, so she let the subject rest.

"Come on, let's go to the living room! I'm in the mood for coco!," Mokuba urged as he literally jumped up and down in excitement.

Kaiba responded by rising from his seat. Both the Kaiba's then looked at Serenity, waiting for her to get up as well. She gladly did so; the chair she was sitting on wasn't really comfortable. After she'd snatched her purse form the floor, the three of them made their way over to the living room, which was only one door away from the dining room. Again, Serenity was taken back by the beauty of the room; Kaiba definitely had taste. However, she didn't really had time to look around; the Kaiba brothers had already taken their seats and Fong had just come in with a tray that carried three damping mugs. Serenity quickly took a seat next to Kaiba and was immediately pleasantly surprised about the comfort of the couch. She gladly leaned back against the black leather as Fong handed her the cup of tea she'd wanted.

"Here you go, miss Wheeler," he said with a polite smile before he proceeded to give the Kaiba's their drinks.

When all three of them were provided with a hot drink, the butler left the room, leaving them to enjoy their beverages. Serenity wondered why Fong hadn't brought milk and sugar; she didn't like her tea without sugar. However, when she took a sip, she found it to be just perfect. How Kaiba knew about all that stuff, she had no idea. She took a mental note to ask Kaiba when they were alone again; she'd rather not have him spying on her. But for now, she would just sit back and enjoy her tea.

However, her newfound peace was soon disturbed by a slender arm wrapping itself around her waist, pulled her against another body. With wide hazel eyes, she looked behind her, right in a pair of blue ones, which coolly stared back. Kaiba nodded towards Mokuba, who was happily sipping his hot coco, absorbed in his own little world. Serenity immediately got the hint; if they were snuggled up like this, it would seem as if they really were a couple. So she casually laid her head on his chest. It got a little harder to drink her tea this, but it was manageable. Besides, the room was a bit chilly, and Kaiba's body was rather nice and warm…

A small sigh of contentment left her lips; she was full and warm, the two things which, when combined, made her a bit sleepy. However, she was luckily saved from falling asleep by Mokuba, who had now noticed the position his brother and his girlfriend were in.

"Oh god, you two, get a room!," he exclaimed, making a face.

"The last time I checked, this space we're is was a room," Kaiba cleverly stated, causing Mokuba to roll his eyes. "Besides, this is _my_ house, so why don't you get your own room?"

Serenity sighed and sat up straight, careful not to spill any tea. "It doesn't really matter," she said with a light sigh. "I should get home soon anyway, before Joey has a stroke."

"Oh, already?," Mokuba asked in a whining tone. "But it's only…" He took a quick glance at his watch. "Nine thirty? Oh… Yeah… that's late enough."

Serenity herself was also a bit surprised; she hadn't realised she'd spent nearly three hours at the mansion. She had to get home fast; even though Joey had said he would treat her more like an adult, she was sure he would hate it if she came home past the curfew he'd set, which was ten 'o clock. She really didn't want to risk getting a huge lecture, so she quickly gulped her tea down and got up from the couch.

"I really need to get home now."

Kaiba quickly chucked down the last of his drink, which was a simple black coffee, before he too got up from the couch, causing Mokuba to give him a weird look.

"You really don't think that Ed can drive her?," he asked sceptically.

"Ed requested the evening off, so I'll drive myself," Kaiba explained to his little brother. It was true; he did gave personal chauffeur the evening off, but even if he hadn't, he would still accompany his 'girlfriend' in the car, because he wanted to go over the evening with her.

Serenity really didn't mind this; this Ed was rather creepy, so his absence was a welcome gift to her. She gladly followed Kaiba out the living room, but not before she gave Mokuba a wave and a smile goodbye. When the two of them were out of the room and the door was closed, Serenity let out a sigh of relief. That went well, or at least she thought it had. She took a glance at Kaiba to see if he though so too, but his expression was, as always, blank. She kept trying to find some sort of emotion as the two of them made their way through the maze of hallways, but she had no luck. She'd have to wait until they were in the car before she'd find out what Kaiba had thought of the evening.

When the two of them arrived at the main hall, Fong was already waiting for them, their coats in his hands. With a small bow, he handed them their coats, which they both quickly put on before they proceeded to the front door. She gave the butler a small smile to thank him for his niceness before she slipped through the two huge doors. Again, the sight of one of Kaiba's car made her gasp. This time, it wasn't a large limousine, but a shiny, black Lotus Evora. It wasn't nearly as big as the limo, but it was just as impressive, if not more.

She quickly walked towards the car, not wanting Kaiba to sneer at her for staring at his fancy belongings. She opened the door to the passenger's seat at slid into the car, placing her purse on her lap. Kaiba, who was already seated and ready to go, started the car. He waited for Serenity to click her seatbelt in place before he stepped on the gas. Soon enough, the Kaiba Mansion was out of sight, which apparently was Serenity's sign to start talking.

"How did you know?"

"How did I know what? Your favorite food and the way you drink your tea?," Kaiba re-bounced the question.

"Yes, that. You're not spying on me, are you?"

"No, I simply have good sources," Kaiba casually answered. "I do not lower myself to spying on people. It is rude and extremely immature."

"I see," Serenity said, relieved that Kaiba wasn't lurking in the bushes behind her apartment. "I'm sorry for assuming you spied on me."

"Whatever," Kaiba muttered, not interested in that subject any longer. "Now, let's get to business. Tonight…"

"Did I do something wrong?," Serenity immediately asked, feeling nervous now that they'd gotten to that subject.

"Surprising not, no," Kaiba said. "It went rather smooth."

Serenity let out a sigh of relief, happy that her hunch had been confirmed by Kaiba; the night had gone well. Hallelujah.

"Now to arrange our next meeting," Kaiba brought in, immediately getting to the point. "Next Friday evening we'll go out on a 'date'. I'll make reservations for seven and I will pick you up at six thirty."

"Alright," Serenity agreed, smiling slightly. Not that she really had a choice; his words had sounded more as a demand than a request. Then again, she had nothing against it anyway. Her Friday night was usually lonely and boring, so it was actually a perfect night to go out on a date, even if it wasn't real.

She sighed and leaned back in the very comfortable leather seats, leaning her head against the window. She closed her eyes and dozed off a bit, occasionally being waked by a bump in the road or a strange sound from the outside. It wasn't until she felt the car stopping when she sat up straight again, letting out a small yawn in the process, a small detail Kaiba luckily missed.

The car soon stopped in front of her apartment building. To Serenity's surprise, Kaiba turned the engine off and stepped out of the car. She, not wanting to be called a moron for being slow again, quickly grabbed her purse, got out of the car and walked around it to Kaiba.

"You don't have to walk me to the front door, you know," she said softly, not wanting him to feel obligated to anything.

"I know I don't have to, but I will. How would it make me look if I let my 'girlfriend' walk alone in the dark?," Kaiba questioned her, a slight smirk on his face.

"Thank you then," she said, beaming at him before she made her way over to the building.

Kaiba walked after her, his long legs quickly catching up with her small ones. Side by side, the two of them made their way into the building, up the stairs, down the hallway, to the doorstep of apartment 428. Serenity snatched her house keys out of her purse and then turned to Kaiba, a slight smile on her face.

"Thanks for walking me."

"Don't mention it."

"Alright then," she said with a smile before she used her key to open the door and stepped inside her apartment. "I'll see you on Friday."

"Six thirty," Kaiba reminded her with a curt nod. She nodded too, making a mental note to write the date and time down so she wouldn't forget.

"Six thrity," she repeated with a small smile. "I'll remember. Good evening, mister Kaiba." With that, she closed the door.

A sigh left her lips as soon as she heard the door shutting. She'd made it through the evening without making a complete fool out of herself, which was an absolute miracle. Geez, was she glad she was home now… and man, was she tired. She knew that she would go straight up to bed if it were up to her. Unfortunately, it wasn't; Joey was home too, and she had to let him know she was home before he went beserk and called the cops on Kaiba.

As soon as she opened the door the living room, he was there, glaring at her, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Hi Joey," she said as cheerful as she could. A glance at the clock told her it was a quarter past ten… she hadn't made her curfew. Oh man, now she was gonna get it.

"Hey sis. How was your night?"

"Eh… my night was fine," she said, a bit dumbfolded. Wasn't he going to yell at her for being home too late?

"Relax sis. I told you I'd treat you more like an adult, remember? And adults don't have curfews," Joey explained. He could see that the tension immediately left his her, which made him smile slightly. He had such a sweet little sister...

"Thanks Joey. For a moment I was scared you'd yell at me," Serenity spoke her thoughts as she beamed at her older brother. He actually kept his word… Not that she'd expect anything else from him, but still… It was nice to have proof.

"I think it's time you got to bed," Joey told her after glancing at her for a while. "Don't worry, I'm not babying you, you just look tired."

Serenity gave him a whole-hearted smile and hugged him tightly. She definitely had the best brother a girl could have. After a long hug, she pulled back and yawned; her eyes felt incredibly heavy and if she didn't get to bed soon, she'd fall asleep right there and then. And it wasn't even that late… She'd just had a busy day.

"Now, go on, get to bed sis, before you fall asleep right here."

"You're right Joey," Serenity said, letting out yet another yawn. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight sis."

Serenity turned around and left the living room. She made her way through the hallway, to the second door on her right. She walked into her room and closed the door. She then undressed herself and put on her favorite nightgown: a bright pink one that had an incredibly cute little kitten on it. With her eyes half-closed, she turned of the lights and plumped down on her bed. Soon enough, sweet sleep went over her, taking her into the land of dreams.

* * *

_And that ends the forth chapter of 'Random Stranger'! I apologize if there are a lot of grammar mistakes in this; I haven't really had the time to look things over, but I really wanted to get something up after letting you wait for a whole month. I don't really have much to say about this chapter. It was fun to write and I hope you all enjoyed reading it^^ As always, if you have the time, please leave me a review so I can improve my writing. Thank you and until next time! :)_

_SilentShipping Addict__: Thank you so much for your review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too^^_

_SetsunaKou__: Ah, your reviews never fail to cheer me up. You're always so nice to me, and I really appreciate that. I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you._

_I.c.E.d.C.u.P.c.A.k.E.__: Thank you very much :) I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story too._

_Aipom4__: Ah, you gotta love Mokuba. I love writing him. Thanks for the review! ;)_

_Ultimate Ending__: Wow, thank you! I'm glad you appreciate the fact that I'm not rushing; others tend to find the story moving rather slow. Hopefully I'm keeping the right pace. Again, thanks so much for your awesome review :)_

_Dark Onyx__: Thank you very much for your review; I always love them. I'm really glad you found the third chapter better than the previous ones; I put a lot of work in that one and I'm glad you noticed. I'm also glad you picked out the line about Kaiba becoming a professional duelist. I put a lot of thought into that. I know most people think Kaiba got into the game because he enjoyed it. I've always thought he did play it because he liked it, but that he went professional for the money. And yes, I'm Dutch^^ And we do use dots at the ends of our sentences, we just use comma's where other languages find them unnecessary. Anyway, I'm rattling again. Thanks for reviewing and I hope you liked this chapter too ;) _

_XxXDarkMagicianXxX__: Thank you so much^^ I'm really happy the part with Kaiba and Mokuba; I really enjoyed writing that part. And yeah, I do need Mokuba for the story to continue. Besides, Kaiba wouldn't kill Mokuba in a million years :) I'm sorry about the late update, but I do hope you enjoyed this chapter^^_

_111__: Yup, we're getting to business now ;) Thanks for the review^^_

_MasqueradeBlack__: Thanks so much for the compliment! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too^^_

_lucy__: Yeah, Serenity should be a little tougher…but hey, her niceness is one of the things I love about her^^ Thanks for the review! _

_SingingWrenn__: I really am glad that my story got you intrigued. And since you're a first time Silentshipper, it is an even bigger compliment for me^^ I really am glad you liked Joey; I thought I'd get major flames for making him that way. And yes, Yugi will be in this a lot; I love that guy to bits. Thank you for the alert and I hope this pace is just right for your tastes^^ Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, and hopefully until next time :)._

_EtoileCyberPrima__: Wow, thank you so much for your reviews^^ I'm really glad you like my story. Oh, and I have changed the category 'Drama' into 'Humor', so please, feel free to laugh ;) Anyway, thanks for the reviews and I hope you found this chapter amusing as well^^_

_Elias__: Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well^^_

_P.O.J.A__: Ah, your reviews are always awesome. Don't worry about taking so long to read it. School is evil, I know… It's been bugging me too. Anyway, to get to the actual reply, I'd like to thank you for pointing out the 'then' and 'than' mistake I often make. I always screw that up, so thanks for noticing; I'll try to make sure I get it right the next chapters. Oh, and that whole 'competitor' thing… I know, I don't like that either, but I know Kaiba wouldn't just go and recruit a Wheeler to be his girlfriend, just so Mokuba would leave him alone. I am planning on killing that 'competitor' storyline soon, since I'm not too fond of that either. Anyway, before I start rattling about random things again: Thank you so much for your awesome review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter too^^_

_SunflowerIce__: Thank you for your review! I'm glad to know you find my story amusing, hopefully you found this chapter amusing too^^_

_sandsnowstorm__: Yey,, my fortieth reviewer! I'm so happy! :D And lucky, indeed^^ Thank you for writing me my fortieth (and also thirty-ninth) review! Ah, and what awesome reviews you write… They never fail to cheer me up, and I really am happy to have someone as wonderful as you reading my story. As you yourself said, saying thank you sometimes isn't enough, and that really is the case with this. Seriously, if I could reach through my computer screen, I'd give you the biggest possible hug. My ego really gets a boost when I read your reviews (not that that's always a good thing XD). I'm just really glad you enjoyed chapter two and three^^ Oh, Mokuba's fifteen here, by the way ;) I'm really happy you like Mokuba and Yugi; they're my favorite to write about (next to Seto and Serenity of course). And I finally found myself a person who's best friends with medicine too! :D Anyway, I'm rattling. Again XD. I will try to watch the 'Mr.' thing, though I can't promise anything… We're not allowed to abbreviate in school, so writing everything in full is just a bad habit of mine. But I'll try to watch it ;). Thank you so much for granting me such awesome reviews and I really hope I will have the honor to receive another one for this chapter^^_

_Faith Callaway__: I humbly thank you for your awesome reviews :) I'm really sorry for the late update but I nonetheless hope you enjoyed this chapter^^_

_111__: I know, I'm really sorry about the late update… But thank you for being concerned, and I hope my next update will be a lot sooner^^_

_lucy__: Best one of the year? Wow, thank you! I hope you'll keep enjoying this :)_

_midnight blue08__: Thank you! I hope you find this chapter interesting as well^^_


	5. Teacher

**Random Stranger**

**_Summary: _**_In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. Silentshipping._

**_Disclaimer: _**_I still do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh!_

**_Author's note: _**_Yes, I present you with another chapter of 'Random Stranger'. Just a little warning before you start reading: I haven't looked over this chapter yet, so if it is filled with mistakes, I apologize. I am going away on vacation for a week in about... well, half an hour, so I barely have time to post this as it is. Anyway, I want to thank everyone who reviewed, alerted or favorited; it is really appreciated by me. And thanks for the concern about my allergic reaction; I'm fine now, except for the fact that my swollen cheeks make me look like a chipmunk. But hey, at least it doesn't hurt anymore. Now, about this chapter... I have to say, it is not what I originally had in mind when I started writing, but nonetheless I hope you'll enjoy reading it._

**EDIT: **I have now re-read and corrected the mistakes I could find. I've also shortened the conversation between Seto and Mokuba a tiny bit, as suggested by P.O.J.A (thank you!) Plus, I've changed the title, because the old one just didn't fit. I hope this all will provide you with a more enjoyable read.

* * *

**_Chapter 5: Teacher_**

* * *

"Oh Seto, come on! Please?"

"I already told you, I'm not going with you!"

"But it'll be fun!"

"Define 'fun'."

Mokuba let out a heavy sigh. He'd spent the past hour or so trying to get Seto to come along with him to the park, but his brother just wouldn't budge. Mokuba knew why: Yugi and the others would be there too. Yugi had asked the Kaiba's to join them in a mini-Duel Monsters tournament in the park, just between their circle of friends, as a practice for the real deal. Mokuba had immediately said yes; he could use some training when it came to Duel Monsters. He had just assumed Seto would come with him… a stupid mistake.

"You'd get the chance to humiliate Joey," Mokuba pointed out, hoping that would get his brother to submit. He knew how Seto loved to put Joey down; his brother would definitely take this opportunity to do it again. Or so he hoped…

"I can humiliate that Mutt anytime and anywhere," Kaiba stated simply. There was no way he was going to spend an entire day with that pathetic little group. They weren't worth his time anyway. Today was his only day off in a long time; he wanted to relax, read the papers, take a nice stroll… Or maybe he'd spend some time refining his deck and strategies. If he wanted to play Duel Monsters, he could use his simulator; that was much more of a challenge than that pathetic geek squad anyway. He was _not_ going.

"Seto…," Mokuba started, attempting yet again to achieve his goal.

"_No_, Mokuba!," Kaiba nearly yelled, both his anger and annoyance rising with the second. "If I recall correctly, _you_ were the one who convinced me to take a day off in the first place. _You_ convinced me to abandon my work, so at least let me spend this free time you forced on me the way _I_ want to spend it!"

"Can't you just take another day off next week?"

Kaiba shot his brother his famous death glare. "_Another_ day off? Sure, why not. It's not like I have a huge, multi-million dollar company to run or anything."

"I _know_ Seto, but you're _always_ working nowadays!," Mokuba argued. "Before you could easily afford to take a day of every now and then. What's changed?"

"The competition," Kaiba muttered as his mind wandered off to this pathetic new dice game that was so popular among the public. Every moron with eyes in their sockets could see it was just a cheap copy of Duel Monsters. The only difference between the actual game and that pathetic rip-off were the dice. How that could become so popular, he had no idea… But it meant he had to spend more hours at the office, trying to come up with new, innovative technology that would send that ridiculous dice game straight to the recycle bin. It meant that he simply couldn't _afford_ to take another day off… And that was why he wanted to spend this one day he had in a way _he_ wanted to, not the way others wanted him to.

"But you already isolate yourself from the world so much. Would it hurt just to go out and spend some time with other people?," Mokuba tried to reason with his brother.

"For me not, no, but if I spend too much time with that geek squad, someone else _will_ get hurt…," Kaiba growled. "And with someone I mean the Mutt."

"You'll have to learn to get along with him someday Seto… if only for Serenity's sake," Mokuba pointed out. "Which reminds me, Serenity will be at the park too, you know."

Oh, just great. So the Mutt's sister would be there too. That would mean more lovey-dovey acting. He'd already nearly gagged the previous evening when he had to put his arms around her. What would he do if he had to pretend to love her in front of her brother, friends and admirers for an entire day? His entire day _off_, nonetheless. If he went, he'd still be working in a way. He shuddered slightly. Mokuba's words had had the opposite effect he'd been hoping for; Kaiba was now even more determined to defend his point. He was just _not_ going.

"I'm not going," he spoke his thoughts for what seemed about the millionth time that day.

And so the whining continued…

* * *

"I'll need my Baby Dragon and my Time Wizard and my Flame Swordsman and my Rocket Warrior and my Red Eyes Black Dragon and my Gearfried The Iron Knight and my Jinzo and my Legendary Fisherman and my Panther Warrior and my Graceful Dice and my Skull Dice and my Scapegoat and my Graverobber and my…"

Serenity sighed heavily as her brother continued to rattle on about all the cards he was going to need for that afternoon. He was so enthusiastic about that game… but she had no idea how to play it. She'd only dueled once, when she'd been trapped in Noah's virtual world, and she hadn't exactly enjoyed that experience. The only reason she even had a deck was because Joey had given her one and she didn't want to disappoint him. And the worst part was, that she was the only one in her circle of friends who didn't know how to play Duel Monsters. Yugi, Joey and Mai were three of the top duelists in the world, Duke owned a company in the gaming industry and had created a game that was based of Duel Monsters, so he was bound to know a thing or two about the game and Tristan and Bakura got the hang of it too. Heck, even Tea knew how to play after Yugi had explained everything to her. Serenity was the only one who didn't have a clue.

Of course, she could ask Joey to teach her how to play… But Joey wasn't exactly the best teacher in the world. He just wasn't able to explain anything without making it ten times more complicated than it had to be. And if she asked Yugi, Mai or anyone else, she was sure Joey would be hurt that she didn't ask him first. So she decided to go through live without learning the art of Duel Monsters, and it almost never bounced back on her… Except for times like this, when someone got the brilliant idea to play Duel Monsters with the entire group. She hated it. Every time she was dragged along, every time she lost somewhere in the first three moves, and every time she could see the look of disappointment in Joey's eyes. That was what she hated the most. Even though he tried to hide it, Serenity knew she let her brother down every time she lost. And today she would, once again, let him down.

"I can't wait until my first match! Maybe I'll even beat Yugi today… Or at least wipe that smug smirk off Kaiba's face…," Joey muttered, causing Serenity to snap out of her thoughts.

"Wait… what did you say?," she asked, her eyes wide. He didn't say what she thought he'd said… did he?

"That I'll maybe beat Yugi today?," Joey suggested, a bit surprised that his little sister had interrupted him.

"No, no, what you said after that!"

"Oh, you mean about wiping Kaiba's smirk off his face," Joey said, a sudden understanding filling him. "I'm sorry sis, I know he's your boyfriend and all… But I'll still kick his ass!"

Serenity didn't respond; she was still staring at her brother with wide eyes. _Kaiba_ would be there too? And here she was, thinking this day couldn't be any worse. Now she had to pretend to have fun playing Duel Monster _and_ pretend to be in love with Kaiba. Oh man, however was she going to survive this day… She'd much rather stay at home so she could finally start reading the novel she'd purchased about a month ago. Even with all the free time she had on her hands, she just hadn't been able to do anything she wanted to do. All she did was studying, cleaning the house, cooking dinner… Joey was too busy with work to help her with the household, so she had to do everything. It wasn't that she minded; Joey worked hard to pay the rent for their apartment, and she was grateful for it. It was just that she sometimes wished she'd have some time to do what she wanted, instead of what others wanted her to do. Even if she had some free time in which she didn't have to study for school or do the household, Joey or one her friends got her to go do something with them, and she simply couldn't say no to her friends. She loved both her brother and friends, and she usually had fun when she spent time with her friends, but sometimes… Sometimes she wished they would just leave her alone and grant her the peace she so longed for. And this time she was bound to get even less peace than usual, seeing as Kaiba would be there too…

"Sis? Earth to Serenity! Hello?"

"Huh? What did you say Joey?," Serenity asked, a bit surprised to be yanked out of her thoughts so suddenly.

"Geez, sis, I just told you an entire story… what were you thinking about?"

"Oh… nothing," she said quickly, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks in embarrassment. What else was she going to say? 'Oh, I was just thinking about how much I despise Duel Monsters and how I'd much rather stay home and read a book today.' Yes, that would be much better… Unfortunately for her, Joey mistook her red cheeks for something else.

"You were thinking about _him_, weren't you?," he asked, the tone of his voice suddenly ten degrees colder than before.

"Who?," she asked, a bit dumbfolded by her brother's sudden strange behavior.

"Kaiba."

"Oh… Yeah… Sorry," she said quickly, relieved that Joey hadn't found out the actual truth. Her 'relationship' with Kaiba had saved her yet again… too bad it couldn't save her from a whole afternoon of Duel Monsters.

"Yeah, well… stop it," Joey said grumpily. "You'll see him this afternoon anyway. Heavens help the rest of us..."

"If you don't want him with us, then why did you ask him to come?," Serenity asked, both in Kaiba's defense and in curiosity.

"I didn't, Yugi did," Joey muttered. "I don't mind Mokuba, but that stuck-up, rich, stupid… Oh sorry sis. I know you're in love with him and all, and even though I have no idea what you see in him, I'll try to be nice. I promise."

"Thanks Joey, I really appreciate that," Serenity said with a smile. Even though Kaiba wasn't really her boyfriend, it meant a lot to her that her brother would try to be nice to a man he despised just to make her happy. He really was the best brother a girl could possibly have.

"Anything for you, sis," Joey said, a cheeky grin on his face. "Now come on, we have to be at the park at one 'o clock."

"Sure Joey, just let me put these away," Serenity said as she picked up the plates she and Joey had used to eat lunch off of. She put them in the sink, making a mental note to wash them before they started to smell. "All done."

She quickly grabbed her dueling deck from the kitchen table and put it in her purse before both she and Joey got up and left the warmth of their small apartment, on their way to meet their group of friends at the park, all prepared for a whole afternoon of playing Duel Monsters.

* * *

"Where _are_ those two?"

The circle of friends was getting impatient. It was twenty past one, but there had been no sight of either of the Kaiba's so far. Especially Joey, Tristan and Duke were sick of waiting.

"Can't we just start already?," Joey huffed, obviously annoyed. "They probably won't show up anyway, so what's the harm?"

"Oh, they'll show up, Hun," Mai said, a grin on her face. "There's nothing that can keep a man away from his girl."

With that, she looked at Serenity and gave her a wink, causing Serenity to blush slightly. She quickly looked down so no one would notice and then let out a sigh. As if everything wasn't bad enough today, she'd forgotten that Mai, Tea and Bakura still didn't know about her and Kaiba. When she told them… Well, Bakura had been normal about it, simply offering her his congratulations, but Mai and Tea had both nearly jumped her, squealing until their throat went sore because their best friend had finally found herself a boyfriend. It had been torture. She didn't even want to imagine what was going to happen when Kaiba got there… _if_ Kaiba got there at all. It would be the first time anyone besides Mokuba would actually face them together as a couple. Well, Tristan and Duke had seen them together as well, but she didn't really count that. They'd been taken back by surprise and ran; there had been no real conversation, except for them stuttering they had to go. This would be very different… And a lot harder.

"There they are!"

Serenity's head shot up at the sound of Tea's shout, and indeed, there they were. Mokuba was running towards them, Kaiba walking right behind him, his long legs easily keeping up with his little brother's running ones. Soon enough, both the Kaiba brothers had reached the group.

"What the hell took you so long?," Duke immediately spat at them.

"Sorry," Mokuba quickly apologized. "_Someone_ had to take a call from some German business… something."

"Associate," Kaiba corrected his little brother. "And that someone could've lost millions of dollars if he hadn't answered that call."

"Yeah, because _someone_ hasn't got enough money as it is," Joey muttered under his breath.

Kaiba shot him a glare, but wisely decided to keep his mouth shut. He already resented being here in the first place; bickering with Wheeler would only make matters worse. Why did he even allow Mokuba to drag him here again? Oh yes… Those unbearable puppy eyes.

"Let's just start, okay guys?," Tea suggested, hoping to prevent Joey and Kaiba from fighting.

"Yeah, let's get started," Yugi quickly jumped in as he retrieved a notebook and a pencil from the backpack that was placed on the grass right next to him so he could write down who would face who. "Hmmm… there's ten of us… That's a tad bit hard…"

"Hard?," Mokuba questioned, not seeing the problem.

"Uhu. It'd be easier if we had eight… or sixteen," Yugi explained. "But I'll find a way."

Kaiba rolled his eyes and let out a light grunt of annoyance. If it was so much easier if they had only eight players, then why did they invite him and Mokuba in the first place? Without the Kaiba's, those idiots wouldn't have this pathetic little problem.

"I'll drop out."

Everyone turned to the source of the voice, surprise written on their faces.

"Serenity, are you sure? We can find a way to make it work, you know," Joey said.

"Nah, I'm sure. I'd be out in the first round anyway," she said with a slight smile. Hopefully they'd accept her withdraw… she didn't want to play in the first place, and she was sure she'd be out immediately anyway. This would be the best solution for all of them.

"That won't matter," Yugi muttered as he took a look at his notebook. "If you step out, then there are nine of us… That's even harder to work with, since it's uneven."

"I step out as well."

It seemed as If a bomb had just dropped; the entire gang turned to him with wide eyes and dropped jaws, as if he was some sort of alien.

"Alright, who are you and what did you do to Kaiba?," Joey asked skeptically.

"Yeah man, do you have a fever or something?," Tristan added as he approached Kaiba, his hand ready to feel if Kaiba's forehead was hot.

"Touch me and I'll break your fingers."

Tristan quickly backed away as he rubbed his fingers with his thumb, as if he was afraid Kaiba could break them just by looking at them.

"Guys, cut it out," Yugi said to Joey and Tristan. Well, mostly Joey, seeing as he had already opened his mouth to make another comment. "But Kaiba, they do have a point. Why do you want to withdraw?"

"Yeah Moneybags, what's the deal with that? Are you chicken? 'Cause I've been practicing, and I can kick your ass right here and now," Joey added, causing Yugi to shoot him a glare.

"I could defeat you with my hands tied behind my back Wheeler," Kaiba spat coolly. "My withdrawal has nothing to do with you."

"Then what is it?," Duke, who was getting impatient, asked.

"Geez, how stupid are you people?," Kaiba spat as he rolled his eyes. "Eight players is the easiest. You had nine. So without me, you'll have eight. Simple as that."

Simple as that, plus the fact that this would be the perfect excuse to get the hell away from those idiots so he could actually relax on his only day off in a long time. Now if only they'd stop whining already…

"Are you sure, Kaiba?," Yugi asked, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Positive."

"But Seto…," Mokuba now started, disappointed as well. He had spend the entire morning whining so he could get his brother to come along, and now he wasn't even going to play? Hell no. However, his protests were never spoken due to Mai's sudden comment.

"Oh please guys, can't you see it?"

Everyone except for Tea gave her a weird look, letting her know that they didn't see it.

She let out an annoyed sigh. "He wants some time with his girlfriend!," she then exclaimed happily. "I never thought you could do something so cute, Kaiba."

Kaiba immediately shot her a death glare, that literally screamed 'If you call me cute again I will rip your tongue out'. Mai, however, didn't seem bothered by that; in fact, it only made her grin wider and she cast a wink at Kaiba, causing him to cringe a little. Great… Now he was being called 'cute'. If there was _anything_ he was not, it was _cute_. If he didn't want to get out of there so badly, that blonde bimbo would've been crying her eyes out by now.

Everyone now stated to talk, some of them protesting, others defending the 'couple'. The only ones that were quiet were Kaiba and Serenity themselves; the poor girl was facing her shoes, her face a rather beautiful shade of red, whereas Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to fight off the headache that the mixture of loud voices gave him. However, both of them were thinking the exact same thing. 'Why don't they just _shut up_ already?'

"Oh, alright already!," Joey's voice rose above all the others. Nearly immediately, everyone else stopped talking, causing both Kaiba and Serenity to let out a small sigh of relief.

"Just to be clear here Kaiba," Joey said as he approached the CEO. "Don't even think about doing anything inappropriate, or you'll have to deal with me. No drinking, no drugs, no bars, no smoking and definitely _no_ sex. Bring her back home safely, or else…"

Kaiba smirked slightly, needing all his willpower to suppress the urge to ask 'Or else what?' Instead, he said: "If that is all."

"Yeah, that's all… for now," Joey muttered.

"It's settled then," Tea exclaimed happily. "Now, you two go and have fun."

Kaiba never said anything to the group; he simply smirked, took a glance at his 'girlfriend' and walked away, knowing she'd be behind him in a matter of seconds, after saying goodbye to those moronic friends of hers. And indeed, soon enough, he could hear her running footsteps behind him. In response, he slowed his pace, allowing her to come walk next to him.

"Where are we going?," she panted as she took a last glance at her friends.

"Go wherever you want to go. I am going home."

"Yeah, right, of course," she muttered, feeling stupid for even asking. The only reason they were still walking next to each other was because they both had to walk a few blocks before they had to separate in order to get home. Frankly, Serenity was a bit surprised Kaiba would be walking; his mansion was at the other side of town. Then again, Mokuba had probably convinced Kaiba to walk.

"Why did you withdraw?"

She looked up at Kaiba, confusion on her face. "Why did you?," she bounced back.

"Because I don't want to spend my entire day off with those morons," he explained, causing her to nod in understanding. "However, they're your friends. Why did you want to leave?"

"I didn't want to leave… I just didn't want to play," she said softly, directing her gaze at the ground. Admitting to the second-best duelist in the world that she had no idea what Duel Monsters was about in the first place was rather embarrassing.

"Why not?," he asked the unavoidable question.

"I have no idea how to play Duel Monsters."

He stopped dead in his tracks, staring at her with a look in his eyes she couldn't quite decipher. To be honest, it frightened her a little. All his presence was simply screaming 'danger. Evacuate immediately.'

"You don't know how to play Duel Monsters?" His voice was toneless.

"N-no," she stuttered, the lack of tone in his voice only scaring her further. "I wanted to ask Joey if he could teach me, but he's a horrible teacher, and if I asked Yugi or Mai, Joey would be upset that I didn't come to him first…"

She shrieked, interrupting her own story, when Kaiba suddenly snatched her wrist and started dragging her along a path she was unfamiliar with. Fear suddenly overwhelmed her; his behavior had been a bit odd since she told his she didn't know how to play Duel Monsters, but this was downright creepy. His hand was wrapped so firmly around her wrist she knew without trying that it would be impossible to pry it off, and she had to run to keep up with Kaiba's fast pace. However, she didn't dare to complain. What if he did something to her?

After they'd made their way through a few blocks in a part of the city Serenity wasn't familiar with, Kaiba slowed his place as they approached a rather small, old building. He dragged her inside, and she was surprised to see that the place was some sort of a coffee shop. And it was a nice one too; the furniture looked very comfy and quite expensive, she could see herself in the wooden floor and if she trusted her smell, there were a lot of different beverages served at the place.

She didn't get a chance to look around further; Kaiba pulled her to one of the few empty tables in the place. He finally let go of her wrist and sat down in one of the two chairs, leaving Serenity no choice but to sit on the other chair, opposite from him. So she did; she quietly sat down in the chair, wondering why Kaiba had brought her here. When she told him that she didn't know how to play Duel Monsters, she'd expected a lot… but not this.

"Hand over your deck."

She blinked a few times, but she then retrieved the deck from her purse and handed it to him. She'd never valued the stack of cards anyway. They were weak and she only carried them with her because she knew Joey loved the game so much. If Kaiba tore up every single card right there and then, she wouldn't even flinch.

Kaiba flipped through her cards, the frown on his face getting worse with every single card. Serenity was actually glad; at least he had an expression on his face now. Not a good one, but still, it was a lot better than the blank face he'd had before.

"Useless," he muttered as he slammed the pile of cards on the table. "But they'll do."

"Do for what?," Serenity asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"I'm going to teach you how to play Duel Monsters."

He retrieved his own deck from the pocket of his blue trenchcoat and placed it next to hers. There was simply no way that any of his girlfriends, or fake girlfriends for that matter, were unable to play the game his entire company was build on. No matter how long it took, he would make sure Wheeler would master the game at least enough to beat her pathetic brother.

"But… But Joey will be hurt if he finds out I learned to play Duel Monsters from someone else," she said hopelessly. Joey had been dying to teach her how to play, but since he was such a horrible teacher, she'd declined.

"Then tell him you learned to play the game from someone else as a surprise for him," Kaiba shrugged, not seeing the problem.

Serenity's eyes suddenly lit up. She'd never even thought of that… Then again, Joey would still ask her why she chose to learn from Kaiba over Yugi or Mai. But that was of later concern. It was time she found out why everyone she knew was so fed up with this game. Besides, it would be rather funny to see the look on her brother's face if she'd be able to beat him next time they played. And the second-best duelist in the world was right across from her, actually _wanting_ to teach her. She'd be stupid _not_ to take this opportunity.

"Alright then… where do we start?," she asked with newborn enthusiasm.

"The basics," he stated simply as he picked three cards from his own deck and put them face up on the table. "You need the learn the three different types of cards first."

She nodded as she leaned closer to examine the three cards he'd placed in front of her. The first one was La Jinn, the Mystical Genie of the Lamp, the second one was Monster Reborn and the third one was the Crush Card.

"The three types of cards," he started as he nodded towards the three cards on the table. "Monster Cards, Spell Cards and Trap Cards. Each has its own power and each is needed to build a solid deck. If you build a deck, those cards…"

"Excuse me, sir, madam, may I take your order?," a waitress, who had appeared at their table, asked them. Kaiba flinched a little, annoyed by the fact that the woman had interrupted him. Nonetheless, he ordered.

"Coffee, black, no sugar."

"A cup of tea with sugar, please," Serenity said with a smile when the waitress turned to her. The waitress scrabbled their orders down on her notepad, smiled and left to get their drinks.

"As I was saying, those cards…," Kaiba started again, only to be interrupted once more.

"Oh, wait," Serenity said as she grabbed the purse she'd put on the floor. She retrieved a small notebook and a pen from it. If she was going to learn this, it was best to write everything down so she wouldn't forget anything.

"Is that everything?," Kaiba asked, a bit annoyed. Even though he had to admit she was smart to write down everything he was going to tell her, he wasn't pleased with the fact that both she and that waitress had interrupted him.

"Yes, that is everything," she smiled. "Please, continue."

"Right. These type of cards are…"

"Here you are."

Kaiba grunted softly when the waitress interrupted him a second time. She was just lucky to be carrying the coffee he needed so much, otherwise he was sure he wouldn't have been able to keep himself from yelling at the incompetent worker.

"Why do you come here?," Serenity asked curiously as soon as the waitress left. She was wondering why someone as wealthy as Kaiba would come to a place that was located in such a deserted part of town just for a cup of coffee. Couldn't he just go to Starbucks?

"The coffee is good, the service is fast and I don't have to worry about the paparazzi coming to this far end of town," Kaiba explained before he took a sip of coffee, almost immediately feeling how the caffeine kicked in.

Serenity nodded, understanding why Kaiba chose this place over all the other coffee shops in Domino. She was sure she'd go nuts if those paparazzi people were following her around all time… It had to be torture. And Kaiba was chased by those nut jobs every second of everyday. She actually felt a little sorry for him.

"So, what do I do with the three types of cards?," she asked, trying to get back on track again.

Kaiba started to explain her how to play Duel Monsters, without being interrupted this time. Serenity scribbled down everything he told her. The game became clearer to her with everything he explained. It wasn't that hard after all. Complicated, yes, but not too hard. She could actually learn to grow fond of it.

Many explanations, cups of coffee (or tea in Serenity's case) and a lot of papers full of annotations later, the waitress approached the two once again.

"Excuse me, sir, madam. We're about to close."

They both looked at her as if she was crazy, then simultaneously looked at their watches. Indeed, it was already six 'o clock. They'd been there for almost four and a half hours!

The waitress didn't seem to notice their shock; she simply put the bill on the table and put their empty cups on the tray she carried with her.

"I have to get home!," Serenity shrieked when the shock wore off a bit. She had yet to make dinner for Joey, and study for her math test, and do the dishes and… She had to go!

"Relax Wheeler," Kaiba tried to calm the near hysterical girl down as he retrieved his wallet from the pocket of his trenchcoat to pay the waitress. "Time won't reverse itself just because you want it to."

Serenity didn't seem to have heard him; she was too busy collecting her papers and cards to notice. Naturally, in her hast, she swept almost all the cards of the table, both hers and Kaiba's, causing her to panic even more.

"Oh no… I'm sorry," she apologized as she got down on her knees. "I'll…"

"You will do nothing at all," Kaiba growled. "Your hysterical behavior has already caused enough of a mess as it is. Just get out and wait outside while I'll take care of this."

The sternness in his voice made Serenity get up and leave the shop immediately, leaving Kaiba behind to not only gather his own things, but hers as well. She waited outside impatiently, looking at her watch every two seconds. Joey was going to kill her for being home so late… _And_ she was going to fail her math test because she hadn't studied enough. _And_ the plates she'd put in the sink that morning were sure to leave their smell in the apartment for at least two full days. She knew she shouldn't have accepted Kaiba's offer to teach her Duel Monsters… Not to mention the fact that she ruined his only day off by taking so much of his time. But Kaiba was right. Time wouldn't reverse itself just because she wanted it too. She would just have to learn to live with it.

Serenity's head shot up when Kaiba walked out of the shop, the waitress only inches behind him. He walked up to her and handed her the purse she'd left behind.

"I put your deck in papers in it," he announced, letting her know all her thing were safe.

"Thank you," she said with a small smile of gratitude. "I really should go now…"

She was about to walk away when Kaiba snatched her wrist for the second time that day.

"What are you…," she started, but she stopped when she saw Kaiba's limousine heading towards the two of them. That would definitely get her home faster.

The limousine soon pulled up in front of them, and Ed, the creepy chauffeur, jumped out the driver's seat and opened the door for the two of them. Kaiba immediately made his way over to the door, dragging Serenity along by her wrist. She actually didn't mind; the closer she stayed to Kaiba, the further away she was from Ed, who was, once again, giving her that creepy stare that send shivers down her spine. The _bad_ kind of shivers.

She quickly slipped into the car, soon followed by Kaiba. A sigh of relief left her lips when the door was closed; that chauffeur really crept her out. She leaned back into the leather seat with another sigh when the car started driving. Was she lucky that her 'boyfriend' could make limousines appear out of nowhere; it was quite a walk from the coffee shop to her house. Then again, she was late anyway, so that extra half an hour wouldn't really matter, but still… She was grateful.

The ride went by in silence. Neither of them had anything useful to say to the other anyway. Besides, the silence was rather nice. Serenity was granted some rest before she had to face Joey, and Kaiba received the first (and probably last) minutes of peace and quiet that day. However, when the car pulled up in front of Serenity's apartment building, they both were forced to leave the comfortable silence of the car.

"You don't have to walk me, you know," Serenity said when she noticed Kaiba was already standing outside, waiting for her to leave the car.

"That's what you said yesterday," Kaiba replied as he started to walk towards the building. "So I'll say what I said yesterday. I don't have to, but I will."

She smiled slightly as she quickly ran after him, not wanting to be left alone with Ed. The two of them made their way up the stairs, through the hallway, to the front door of her apartment in silence.

"I'll see you on Friday then," she said with a small smile.

"Six thirty," both of them noted simultaneously, causing her to giggle and him to smirk.

"Goodnight mister Kaiba," she said, a small smile still on her lips.

"Goodnight Wheeler."

He was about to turn around and walk away, but luck just wasn't on the couples side that day. Before he could leave or she could get her keys to open the door, it was already opened by a grinning Mai and a grumpy Joey.

"Aw, aren't you two cute?," Mai squealed when she saw the two 'lovers' standing on the doorstep. "You had a nice day?"

"Marvelous," Kaiba answered, the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Yeah… it was… fun," Serenity quickly jumped in, hoping that Joey and Mai hadn't noticed the sarcasm in Kaiba's voice.

"I should get going," Kaiba announced, wanting to get the hell away from those two blondes as soon as possible. He gave Serenity a short nod before he turned around, ready to walk away. However, Mai stopped him from escaping.

"What? You're not giving your own girlfriend a kiss goodnight?," she questioned, causing the other three people to freeze.

"I don't think I want to see this," Joey muttered before he quickly disappeared into the apartment, probably ready to throw up by the mere thought of Kaiba and his sister kissing.

Mai, on the other hand, was still standing in the doorway, a smirk on her face. She obviously didn't mind watching the two of them kiss. Kaiba muttered something under his breath before he turned back to Serenity and walked up to her, every step he took filled with sheer, utter reluctance. This was going to be hell…

Slowly, he wrapped one hand around her waist and leaned down to her, as she raised her arms so she could wrap them around his neck. They remained like that for a few seconds, trying to find the courage to get it over with already. She was the first to find it; it was either now or never. Slowly she stood on her toes so she could reach Kaiba's face and then pressed her lips on his.

It was torture. His tongue slipped into her mouth, only to remain their motionless. It almost made her gag. And that taste… He tasted like that horribly bitter coffee he always drank. It was disgusting. To keep herself from actually gagging, she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, hoping it would just be over soon.

On the other side, Kaiba wasn't really having fun either. His back was already aching because he had to lean down so far, and his jaws were starting to hurt from the horrible kiss. She tasted like a mixture of tea and something else he couldn't really place. Whatever it was, it was one of the worst things he'd ever tasted. It was horrible.

After a few seconds, Kaiba was the first to pull back and let go. He nearly gasped for breath, the horrible half-tea, half-something still in his mouth. God did he need a cup of coffee…

"Ah, you two are so cute," Mai said lovingly. She hadn't noticed any of the disgust the two had felt during their kiss; it had all seemed perfect from her point of view.

Kaiba growled before he turned on his heels and left without saying anything else. He just wanted to go home, brush his teeth, drink a lot of coffee and forget that day ever occurred.

Serenity, on the other hand, didn't have Kaiba's luck; she was forced to go into her apartment where she had to face Mai and Joey. With a sigh, she walked past Mai into the apartment and closed the door, ready for a night full of torture interrogations.

* * *

_And there you have it; the fifth chapter. As I said, sorry for the mistakes... Please look past it for now, I'll correct them as soon as I get back from my holiday. Anyway, this chapter was a lot of for me. It gave me the chance to get Kaiba and Serenity a little closer by him trying to teach her how to play Duel Monsters. And, of course, the first scene between Mokuba and Kaiba was extremly fun to write. Ah, and the kiss-scene in the end... I figured Mai would be the perfect candidate to make them kiss. After all, Mokuba can't be their only pain in the ass, right? Anyway, I'm going to stop now; I have to go. Let me just metion that I WON'T be doing review replies right now; I don't have time for them, and I did want to leave you guys with something before I left.  
__Goodbye and until next time! ^_^_


	6. Human

**Random Stranger**

_**Summary:**In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. Silentshipping._

**_Disclaimer: _**_Hey, guess what I don't own? Yup, Yu-Gi-Oh!_

**_Author's note: _**_I updated. After five frickin' months, I finally updated. OMG. I am so, so terribly for not posting anything for so long, but I do have a very simple explanation for it. This chapter is my sworn immortal enemy. Seriously . You see, this chapter is one I just HAD to write, because it is important for the plot (more on that at the end of the chapter) and it is vital for the story. But my god, was this one a pain in the ass. I wrote it, hated it, changed it, changed it again, still hated it, changed it again... And I'm still not satisfied with it. It just doesn't have a nice flow, and to me it seems very forced, but I am so damn sick of this chapter that I'm just gonna leave it with this. I'm very sorry, and I hope you stick around for the next chapter, which will be a lot better. Oh, and on a whole other note (Rapidly changing subjects? Who? Me? How dare you!) I wanted to point out something from the previous chapter, namely the kiss. A lot of people have pointed out to me that, even though it is particularly disturbing or distracting, they found the togue I put in the kiss strange or surprising. When I wrote that scene, I figured that a couple that is supposed to be dating and is all lovey-dovey would find a goodbye kiss one of the most passionate, since it'll be a while before they see each other again. That in mind, I had the characters share a seemingly passionate kiss, with fireworks and all. So I'm sorry if the kiss scene seemed out of place to any of you, but I do hope you find it more enjoyable now that you know my thoughts behind it. Anyway, I have typed enough for now. I am sorry for the late and bad update, but I hope you'll somewhat enjoy reading this chapter nonetheless._

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_**Chapter 6: Human**_

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The week went by a lot faster than Serenity had expected it to. Her part-time job was, as always, taking most of her free evenings, but it was school that really kept her on her toes. Since the summer holidays were coming up, every one of her teachers was in a hurry to give their students the final homework, tests and grades. All week Serenity had not been able to think about anything but schoolwork. It was dreadful, really. Luckily, she would only have to endure one more year of high school before she could finally go to college. She wanted to study art. Paintings, photographs, literature, sculptures… Art had always amazed her, which was why she had known she wanted to study it from a very young age. But for now, it was yet another year of science, physics, biology, math and other useless subjects.

With a sigh of delight she entered her small apartment that Friday afternoon. She dumped her bag underneath the hallstand before she slumped down on the couch, closing her eyes briefly. And for a few glorious minutes she just laid there, knowing she did not have to do any schoolwork until Sunday.

She did not move from her spot until she heard the doorbell ring. With some reluctance, she managed to get up and make her way over to the door. Looking through the peephole, she discovered a delivery man standing in front of the door, a rather large package in his arms. She wondered whatever ridiculous item Joey had ordered now. Snickering slightly, she opened the door for the delivery man.

He smiled at her. "Are you miss Serenity Wheeler?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Right. Could you sign here, please?" He held out form pinned to a clipboard, together with a pen. She stared at it, confused.

"But I didn't order anything," Serenity declined.

"I don't know about that ma'am. I was sent to deliver this package at four exact. It's already been paid for."

"Who is it from?," she asked while hesitantly taking the items that were handed to her.

"I don't know ma'am. But would you please sign for it? You can always send it back if you wish to do so."

"Oh, yes, of course," Serenity said. She quickly signed her name at the bottom of the form.

The delivery man took the form and pen back. "Thank you, ma'am." He handed her the package. "Have a nice day."

He turned and walked back to his truck, which was parked close by, leaving Serenity alone with the foreign package in her hands. She went back inside, closing the door behind her. The package, which was surprisingly light, she placed on the coffee table in living room. Curious, she examined it. It was a big, rectangular box. A sticker with her name and address on it was placed on the top of it, impossible to miss. When she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary on the outside, Serenity moved to undo the tape from the box. Once it was cleared from the sticky brown substance, she pulled it open.

A gasp escaped her parted lips. Inside the box was an evening gown. An exceptionally _beautiful_ evening gown. With wide eyes, she reached for the soft lilac fabric. Carefully, she lifted the neatly folded dress out of the box, holding it out in front of her in its full glory. It was a strapless, ankle-length empire gown. A trail of fake flowers, violets to be exact, was formed from the top of the left bosom to the bottom right of the gown. The taffeta from which it was made of shone lightly, making the dress seem as if it were glowing. It was gorgeous.

She carefully laid the dress down on the couch and turned towards the coffee table again, to examine the remaining items inside the box.

She first pulled out a pair of strappy, high-heeled lilac sandals, which would match perfectly with the dress. Next was a pair of elbow-length, lilac gloves, followed by a matching, small lilac purse. Finally, she picked up a subtle silver necklace with a small violet flower, made out of tiny diamonds, dangling from it, together with a matching bracelet. When all the items were cleared from the box, only a small, white card remained. She picked it up and read the few words written on it.

_Six thirty. Be ready._

_- S. Kaiba_

Serenity couldn't help but smile at the card. Though his words were simple and impersonal, the dress he had selected for her to ware that evening was absolutely stunning. Maybe he was a bad kisser, but at least he did have style.

Still smiling, she placed the outfit back in the box, then took the box to her bedroom. She had actually thought about her 'date' with Kaiba quite a lot that week, simply because she had no idea what to expect. She had even borrowed a low-cut, deed red dress from Tea, who was about the same size as her. Not that the dress looked too good on her; the red from the dress cursed with the auburn in her hair, and she was not too fond of the low-cut top, but it had been the only quasi-fancy dress within her reach. Luckily, she wouldn't be forced to wear that anymore.

With an uplifted mood, Serenity decided to take a much deserved – and much needed – bath. Sitting in a closed off classroom in the middle of summer was not really contributing to her freshness, especially since she'd been stupid enough to forget her deodorant.

She left her bedroom and walked down the hallway to eventually stop in front of the bathroom door. She stepped inside, closing and locking the door behind her before turning on the water. While the bathtub was filling itself with water, Serenity got out of her sweaty hotpants, T-shirt and underwear. She waited for the bathtub to fill completely, then gladly got in the lukewarm water.

For one whole, beautiful hour she did absolutely nothing but lay there, lost in her own thoughts, a hazy smile on her lips. It wasn't until she lazily took a look at the waterproof digital clock at the rim of the tub when she realized it was time to move. With some trouble, she managed to get up and drain the water from the bath. She then took a quick, cool shower, mostly focusing on washing her hair. Finally, she slipped out of the bathroom, her naked body covered by nothing but a cream colored towel.

Knowing it was already twenty to six, Serenity quickly made her way back to her bedroom to get ready. She first took her hairdryer out of one of the many drawers of her dresser to dry her long, wet hair. It took her almost half an hour to do her hair, but the result definitely made up for it. She'd created some volume while drying her hair, creating a nice coup that seemed endless and bounced with each step she took. She'd also curled the two bangs that usually framed her face by twirling them around her finger while drying. The correct word to describe her hairdo was, in her personal humble opinion, adorable.

Satisfied, Serenity replaced the hairdryer in her dresser and turned to the box on her bed. With great care not to wrinkle the smooth fabric, she took hold of the dress, lifting it from its safe position inside the box. The cream towel fell to the floor, but was soon replaced with the lilac gown. As she pulled up the zipper at the back of the dress, she realized that it was a perfect fit. Not that she'd expected anything else from Kaiba and his 'sources'.

She sat down on the rim of her bed, then took the pair of strappy lilac sandals from the box. Knowing that the shoes would be exactly her size as well, she slipped them on, indeed finding that the shoes fit her perfectly.

To finish up, she fastened the lock of the necklace behind her neck, letting the small flower rest in between her collarbones. She then took the set of lilac gloves and slipped them over her arms. And finally, she fastened the bracelet around her left wrist.

She walked towards the life-size mirror (a birthday present from Mai) she had placed right next to her closet and took a long look at herself, only to find that she looked exceptional; there was not a wrinkle in the dress nor the gloves and not one of her many hairs was out of place. All that she had to do now was apply just a tiny bit of that purple lipgloss Mai had recommended her, and she would be perfect.

She took a small, pink box from her desk and opened it, revealing what little make-up she possessed. The yet to be opened purple gloss laid on top of the small pile. Serenity took it out of the box, placed the box back on her desk and walked to the mirror a second time. Careful not to spill any on her gorgeous outfit, she broke the gloss's seal, took off the cap and pulled the small brush out of the sticky purple substance. Delicately, she applied a thin layer of the goo onto her lips; first the bottom, then the upper. Once she was done, she made a kissing movement with her lips, causing the gloss to be equally divided over both her lips. She put the cap back on the gloss and placed it on her desk before taking another glance at herself in the mirror.

Yep. Perfect.

Serenity smiled at her reflection for a brief second. She was as good as ready. There were only two small things left to do. The first was relocating her personal belongings from her old purse to the new one. The second was writing Joey a small note in case he got home before she did.

Knowing what to do, Serenity lifted the purple purse out of the box and took it with her to the living room, where her older, simple, black purse was located. Taking it out from under the couch, she retrieved her mobile phone, wallet and house keys from it and carefully placed them in the new purse. She then walked to the kitchen, took a small, yellow post-it and a pen out of one of the drawers and scribbled down a quick note.

_Sorry I'm not here, out to dinner with Seto._

_Hope you had a nice day. See you soon._

_Love, Serenity_

She stuck the post-it to the fridge, knowing that was the one place where Joey would surely find it. She then replaced the pen in the drawer and took a look at the time, which was digitally displayed on the microwave.

Twenty-eight past six. Did she have timing or what?

The remaining two minutes flew by, and, at six thirty precise, the doorbell rang.

Knowing how Kaiba hated to wait, Serenity was at the front door in mere seconds. She unlocked the lock and opened the door, indeed revealing Kaiba standing on the doorstep. He was dressed in a spotless white tuxedo, with a lilac tie that matched the color of Serenity's outfit. She had to admit, he looked better in white than he did in black.

"My, my," he sneered, smirking. "Your timing is improving."

Deciding it would be best to take that as a compliment, Serenity smiled. "Thank you."

She stepped outside, closing and locking the door behind her. Without another word, the two of them started walking.

When they had crossed the hall, and were about to enter the staircase, Serenity decided to break the silence by asking the question she'd been wanting to ask ever since that previous Sunday. "Say, where are we going tonight?"

"Amice's," Kaiba replied casually. "I'm sure you've heard of it."

Serenity paled. "Yeah… I've heard of it," she replied, her voice a few octaves higher than usual.

'Heard of it' was quite an understatement. Amice's was world famous; it was said to be the best Italian restaurant on the entire planet. Their waiting list was over a year long, and only the richest, most elite human beings would ever even dream about dining there. The place was always swarmed with paparazzi hoping to snap a shot of a celebrity in a tight spot.

And _that_was what concerned Serenity. The paparazzi. If Kaiba was taking her to Amice's, it meant he thought it was time to reveal their 'relationship' to the rest of the world. And that was something she'd been dreading ever since she'd made the deal. She was just a simple girl; she wasn't sure if she was ready to be on TV, or in magazines. She wasn't ready to be hated by every female in existence for dating Seto Kaiba, especially not when it wasn't even true.

But a deal was a deal, no matter how much she regretted it at that moment. She'd just have to bite down and take it.

After a short, silent walk, the two of them exited the building, stepping out into the warm summer evening. Serenity looked around, expecting to see a limousine on stand-by somewhere near the building, but she didn't spot one.

Kaiba, noticing her confused look, answered her unspoken question. "I parked a few block away from here." After what Serenity had told him about the grudge the people in her neighborhood seemed to have against the wealthy, he'd decided it would be best to leave his car at a safe distance.

"I see," Serenity said, somehow knowing exactly why Kaiba hadn't parked his car right in front of the door. She didn't really mind, though; it was a nice evening, and she enjoyed a little stroll every once in a while. A bit of fresh air might just be the thing to calm her down before she'd have to face a dozen cameras.

Their walk was short, and silent. Kaiba was musing over the simulations he was developing for one of the newest gaming hypes, while Serenity was trying her hardest to keep her fears at bay. She shouldn't be thinking about everything that could go wrong; it only made her more nervous than she already was.

The couple soon reached a small, old parking lot, which was completely deserted. Well, deserted if you didn't count the shiny, black sports car that seemed to have come right of the pages of a magazine.

Serenity was impressed by the vehicle, but knew better than to comment on it this time. Instead, she followed Kaiba towards it and casually said: "No limo this time?"

"No," Kaiba replied flatly. "Ed has the flu. Besides, I prefer driving myself."

Serenity sighed lightly in relief. No Ed. Thank god. That guy was really, _really_ creepy.

She looked up to see Kaiba holding the door of the passenger's seat open for her. She smiled, thanked him and quickly got inside. Who knew Seto Kaiba could be a gentleman?

Kaiba, in fact, was not trying to be a gentleman at all; he just didn't want any scratches on his brand new, shiny car on such an important evening, and that bracelet he'd given her might just do that. Oh no, tonight, everything had to be perfect. Those damn paparazzi could take the tiniest flaw and make it seem like a true scandal. And that was not something Kaiba would allow to happen anytime soon.

He walked around the car and got in the driver's seat. He took his keys out of his pocket, then stuck them in the sloth and turned. The car came to life with surprisingly little sound. The once dark dashboard lit up in a nice light blue, and the airconditioning immediately kicked in, blowing cool air through the entire car to keep the passengers from overheating. Kaiba put the car in the appropriate gear and skillfully maneuvered out of the tiny parking lot. After shifting gears again, he hit the gas.

The two of them were in for quite a long ride, which was why Kaiba had decided to pick Serenity up so early. It was a one and a half hour drive, meaning they'd arrive at Amice's at around eight.

For Kaiba, the ride was nice and relaxing; he'd always been rather fond of driving, it gave him the feeling of both freedom and control at the same time. For Serenity, however, the ride was absolutely excruciating. She had to be careful not to ruin her outfit or Kaiba's far too expensive car, and with every passing minute, she became more and more nervous about the events that were to happen.

She just wasn't the type for this. She was just a plain girl. She didn't know anything about the lifestyle of the rich and famous, and she didn't even want to know anything about it. She was perfectly happy with her life the way it was. Well, except for the misplaced attention she kept getting from Tristan and Duke, but she would gladly have a dozen Tristan's and Duke's fighting about her if that meant she wouldn't have to face a swarm of paparazzi. But what could she do? She'd made a deal, a promise, and she couldn't break that. She should've put more thought in this whole thing, but the thought of finally getting rid of Tristan and Duke had blurred her judgment. She should've known better. Now she was trapped.

For half an hour, they continued like that; Kaiba in a fairly good mood, eyes fixated solely on the road, Serenity feeling like a deer caught in the headlights, playing lightly with her new bracelet in an attempt to calm herself down.

That changed, though, when Kaiba took a quick glance at the digital clock on the dashboard of his car, and noticed, to his surprise, they'd already been driving for half an hour. Well, that didn't really surprise him. What did was the fact that his 'date' hadn't even attempted to start a conversation with him for half an hour. Not that he minded, of course, but it was… odd. Out of place. Annoying as she was, she always tried to talk to him, to break the ice, so to speak. For her to stay quiet like that… well, it was just odd. And odd things were interesting. So Kaiba, curiously, shot a casual glare at the young woman next to him.

Serenity was unaware of his eyes on her. She was unaware of the fact that she hadn't said a word in over half an hour. She was too absorbed in tapping the silver bracelet in the rhythm of her favorite song to relief her stress.

What she did become aware of was a very sudden change in direction, followed by a hard break, the force of it causing her seatbelt to cut her flesh. Startled, she looked at Kaiba, who was staring straight ahead, his grip of the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were starting to turn white. She then looked back, to see if they'd hit anything, but there was nothing on the road, and nothing on the talus where Kaiba had conveniently parked his car. Whipping her head back towards Kaiba, Serenity finally found her tongue. "What was that for?"

Kaiba didn't answer her, nor bothered to look at her. Instead, he said: "You're not ready for this, are you?"

"What?," she now asked, dumbstruck.

"This," Kaiba repeated. "This evening, this dinner, this revelation. You're not ready for it."

Serenity stared at him, at his tense posture, his set-back jaw. How on earth had he known that? "I…," she started, wanting to deny his words, but realizing he'd easily see through her anyway. "No. I'm not ready for this."

Kaiba sighed, both in aggravation and in pity. Then, he stepped on the gas again. With the help of his servo-assisted steering, he easily made a full turn, and soon, they were driving back the way they came from.

Serenity stared, again. "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you back home," Kaiba said gruffly. "If you're not ready, then there's really no need in perusing this further. Besides, pale as you are, they'd probably think I had you locked up in my basement for a few years."

Serenity giggled lightly at his last comment, but soon fell silent again. Though she was relieved and somewhat happy that Kaiba had seen through her, and that she wouldn't have to face the paparazzi, she was now struck with a new sense of guilt.

"I guess the deal is off now, huh?," she asked dully. Of course the deal was off. She had failed to fulfill her part of their bargain, so there was no reason for Kaiba to keep fulfilling his.

Much to her surprise, though, Kaiba sighed. "No."

"No?," she repeated, dumbfolded. "But I… if I can't give you the publicity you want… then what is in it for you?"

Kaiba smirked slightly. "What's in it for me, is Mokuba."

"Mokuba?"

"Mokuba."

"Now I'm confused," Serenity stated.

"It's quite simple really," Kaiba started to explain. "You see, my brother seems to live under the impression that a… female human being would uplift my spirits." He stopped to chuckle at the ridiculous reasoning of his brother. "He constantly attempts to find a woman for me, going from dating sites to blind dates and back. It's quite tiresome, really, and ever since we made our deal, he has finally decided to leave the issue."

"Aha," Serenity said, a smile slowly forming on her lips. Even though she knew Kaiba would never admit it, he was, in a way, just like her. All he wanted was some peace and quiet, some solitude, some… well, serenity. And he was even willing to settle for their original agreement without receiving the extra publicity he was out for. He was actually human. Wow.

Silence fell once again, but the tension that had consumed the atmosphere before had vanished. Serenity was far more relaxed now that the pressure of facing the paparazzi was gone, and even though Kaiba was a bit sore about losing his extra publicity, he still wasn't in a particularly bad mood. After all, he could've just kept driving after noticing how horrible the female Wheeler had looked, but he simply knew that it would've caused problems sooner or later. No, it was best to drop that part of their deal… for now.

Since the road back to Serenity's apartment was completely deserted, Kaiba occasionally pressed his foot down on the gas panel a little further than he should. The trip, which had cost them half an hour before, was now over in barely twenty minutes. Kaiba parked his car in the same small parking lot he had before. He turned off the engine, and both of them exited the car. Serenity closed the expensive car door with extra care, not wanting to scratch it, as Kaiba had feared. She succeeded, and happily, she started to make her way over to her apartment, Kaiba by her side, as always. She didn't even bother to tell him he didn't have to walk her home again, because she knew he would anyway.

The pair walked back towards the scruffy building that was Serenity's home. Through the doors, up the stairs, through the hall. It wasn't until they had reached apartment 428 when Serenity decided to break the silence that lingered between the two of them.

"Thank you… for, well, you know… _not_ taking me out tonight."

"It was my pleasure," Kaiba replied dryly, causing Serenity to let out a small giggle.

They stood there for a few moments, a rather awkward silence falling between the two of them. Neither really knowing the proper procedure that went with the 'cancelled date' situation, they stayed like that until Kaiba decided it was enough. He was about to announce that he was leaving, when Serenity beat him to the punch.

"Do you want to come inside for a cup of coffee?"

He looked down at her, his face a mixture of surprise and amusement. "Coffee?," he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, coffee. You drink coffee, right?"

"Occasionally," Kaiba smirked, though it was fair to say he drank at least a dozen cups of the strongest known coffee each and every day.

"There's also tea," Serenity added quickly. "And hot chocolate. Or lemonade, if you like."

Kaiba smirked. So the Wheeler wanted him to stay for a cup of coffee. How cliché. Nevertheless, he could use a shot of caffeine, and if he went home straight away, Mokuba would surely ask questions. There was simply no reason not to accept her offer.

"Sure, why not?," he said with a shrug.

Serenity beamed at him, glad he had taken her offer. After all, giving him something to drink was the least she could do. She would've offered him a meal too, that is, if there had been anything worth eating in her fridge. She always went grocery shopping on Saturday; seeing as it was Friday, the only food they had left was a single pizza for Joey to eat when he came home from work, three eggs and a few slices of cheese. Somehow, she didn't think Kaiba would prefer a meal of pizza, eggs and cheese over the skilled cooking of his personal chef.

So coffee it was. Serenity took her keys from the purple place and opened the door to her apartment, stepping aside to let Kaiba in first.

"It's not much," she said as she entered the apartment herself. "Especially not in comparison to your mansion. But it's… home."

"Hmm," was all Kaiba let out; he was too busy examining a painting of a black kitten that hung on one of the walls in the small hallway, right next to the door that led to Serenity's bedroom. "Who painted this?"

"I did," she admitted. "About two months before I had my surgery. It's not that good, but Joey wanted to put it up anyway. You know, nostalgia."

Kaiba chuckled lightly, then scanned the painting again. It wasn't anything special; just a single, black kitten and a red ball of wool, but the way it was painted, the incredible realism was what made it exceptional, especially since it'd been painted by a girl that was already half blind. For something as useless as art, it was impressive.

"It's not bad," he concluded. "Not bad at all."

He turned to Serenity, who blushed lightly, but smiled as well. "Thank you."

She walked past him, the smile still on her lips, and led him to the living room.

"I'll make some coffee," she announced once they had both stepped inside the living room. "Have a seat."

With that, she disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Kaiba alone in the small living room, into which the Wheelers had barely managed to fit a couch, two chairs, a coffee table and a cabinet, on which their television rested. After a thorough inspection, he decided to sit down on the couch, which, in his opinion, seemed the least likely to collapse underneath him.

After a remarkably short time, Serenity reentered the room, carrying two steaming mugs. She handed one of them to Kaiba.

"Black, no sugar, right?," she asked, uncertain. When Kaiba nodded, she smiled and sat herself down next to him, her own, dark red mug clamped tightly between her small hands.

"You drink coffee?," Kaiba asked, not taking her for much of a caffeine junkie.

"No, it's tea," she confirmed his thoughts. "I know, it's supposed to go in a glass, but I prefer mugs. Always have."

Kaiba nodded, then took a sip of his coffee, which tasted surprisingly good. Sure, it wasn't his expensive espresso machine, but at least it wasn't the mudwater some people dared to serve their guests.

"Oh, before I forget," Serenity piped up. "Joey usually comes home from work at around eight, and it's already a quarter to. I don't know if you want to leave before he comes in…"

But Kaiba shook his head. "No, let him come. We still have to make this so-called relationship seem believable, and this is a good opportunity to do so."

"Right," Serenity agreed. She nipped her tea, but soon decided it was too hot to drink yet, so she placed her mug on one of the cork coaters on the coffee table and leaned back into the soft pillows of the couch. "Like how we sat with Mokuba after dinner at your mansion? That sort of position?"

Kaiba nodded. "It contributes to our credibility as a couple." He grinned. "Plus, I'd love to see the mutt's face."

Serenity decided to pretend she hadn't heard his last comment, instead taking her mug back in her hands to see if her tea had cooled off a bit.

The following fifteen minutes went by slowly, and rather awkwardly. Serenity left her spot once, to get Kaiba a second cup of coffee, but other than that, the two of them simply sat on the couch in silence. Finally, three minutes after eight, the sound of a key being shoved in the lock filled the house.

As if on cue, Serenity scooted over to the corner where Kaiba was sitting. Quickly but carefully, she snuggled up to his body, resting her head on his chest, as he wrapped his free arm around her slim waist.

They stayed perfectly still, listening to the sounds in the hallway to determine when Joey would come in. Serenity was nearly holding her breath as she heard Joey's plumping footsteps approaching the door to the living room.

"Sis!," Joey exclaimed just before opening the door. "I'm ho…"

He blinked at the sight before his eyes. His sister and his archenemy, seemingly stuck together on a single square inch of the cream-colored couch Serenity had picked for their apartment, dressed in clothes that would be fit for royalty. Well, that was definitely _not_ what he'd expected to find in his living room.

Kaiba glared at him, and Serenity lifted herself upwards just enough to look over the rim of the couch to see him.

"Joey!," she exclaimed, pretending to be surprised. "We were just…"

She stopped, unsure of what to say, but Kaiba fell in. "I was just leaving."

He drank what little coffee was left in his mug, then lifted himself from the couch, a light smirk on his lips. "I think I've made my point anyway."

Serenity got up as well. "I'll let you out."

They walked past Joey, who was still standing in the doorway, dumbstruck. Serenity gave him a slight apologetic smile on her way out, which seemed to bring him back to reality. He gave her a small, encouraging nod, and then disappeared into the living room himself, leaving Kaiba and Serenity alone once again.

"That was fast," Serenity commented when she had caught up with Kaiba.

"Fast and subtle," Kaiba nodded. "The most believable way. If we were truly dating, staying in a position like that with him in the room would've been awkward, hence the fast departure."

Serenity nodded, understanding his motives. She never would've guessed Kaiba knew so much about relationships. Then again, the guy had probably completed every study known to mankind, so it wasn't really a surprise. But still, she was impressed.

Once they reached the door, Serenity opened it for him, and he stepped outside.

"When is our next… well, meeting?," she asked.

"I'm not sure yet. Whenever I need you. Or whenever you need me, I suppose."

"Right. And thank you. For… well, you know."

"I know."

"Say 'hi' to Mokuba for me."

"Will do. Goodnight, Wheeler."

"Goodnight, mister Kaiba."

With that, Kaiba turned away from her and walked back towards the staircase. Serenity watched until he disappeared from her sight, then went back inside her apartment, closing the door behind her. She quickly walked back to the living room.

"I'm sorry about that Joey," she started the moment she opened the door. "We were supposed to go out, but…"

She stopped when she realized her brother wasn't hearing a word she was saying; he had already drifted off to dreamland. Snoring softly, his head resting on the spot where she and Kaiba had sat only a few minutes ago, he had assumed a not too flattering, but seemingly comfortable position.

Serenity smiled at the sight and tiptoed around the couch. "Guess you had a long day," she whispered. "Sleep well, big brother."

She hit the light switch, draining the room in darkness, then left the living room to undo herself of the fancy dress she was in. She'd talk to Joey tomorrow.

* * *

_So, there you have it. The sixth chapter of this story is finally done. As I said before, this chapter is solely a filler, meant to fuel the plot. You see, when I first started this story, I needed something that would push Kaiba to make the deal with Serenity, which, at that time, was publicity. But I already knew I was going to eliminate that part of the plot later on, because I didn't want this to be one of those cliché 'Kaiba-dates-someone-for-publicity-then-falls-in-love-with-her/him' stories. And that's the purpose of this chapter. I'm sorry if I disappointed any of you; I promise the next chapter will be a lot more entertaining, and I'll update a lot sooner this time. Anyway, please do review; your opinions help me to improve my writing style and skills. Thank you, and until next time!  
_

**Review Replies** (geez, I had a lot of reviews for the previous chapter XD)

_Faith Callaway: Thanks for the review! I'm sorry I didn't really update soon. Five months… Geez, that is a long time XD. Still, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter as well =)._

_XxXDarkMagicianXxX: Thank you so much! You know, your review really made me hungry for ice cream XD. As for the chemistry exams… well, my exams are in two years, and chemistry is one of them. I guess I should beware. Anyway, thanks for the nice review ^_^._

_midnight blue08: No, they definitely didn't =P. Luckily I'm far from done with this story, so things might progress… or not XD._

_Secluded Sapphire: Thanks for your review! You know, I've thought of the two them just acting their kiss, without any lip contact, but it is really hard to make that convincing, especially when the couple is on the doorstep, and the tormentor is in the doorway. Mai was too close, she would've noticed it if they hadn't made lip contact. As for the tongue, well, I explained that at the beginning ^_^._

_Ivory Goddess of Ebony Heart: Thank you so much, for both of your reviews. I'm happy that you find my story something unique, because that is really what I strive for as an author. So thank you very much for the compliment! ^_^_

_SingingWrenn: Thanks so much for the amazing compliment! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well ^_^._

_AngelsFireNIce: Thank you! I'm glad the chapter wasn't that filled with mistakes. Yey, my English is improving XD. The 'other thing' Kaiba tasted… I'm sorry, I won't tell you. You won't know until Kaiba knows. Though that could take some time… Anyway, thank you for your great review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_

_AIBOUGiRL: Thank you so much for reviewing! Again, glad the previous chapter wasn't that bad. And I'm glad you found the kiss-scene enjoyable. Because they're not gonna think it's that bad. Eventually. I hope XD._

_Mirokusonlybabe: Thank you very much for your review! I'm glad you enjoyed the interaction between Seto and Mokie. And I'm sure he's gonna like kissing her… eventually._

_sandsnowstorm: You really are far too nice to me. Every time I post a chapter, I am anxiously waiting for your review, because I simply know that a review from you will never, ever fail to put a smile on my face. You really inspire me with your kind words, thank you so much. But girl, where are you? I know you said you wouldn't post any new chapters in the nearby future, but deleting your account? Please tell me you have a new account, or will pick your old one up later on, because I swear, if I don't find out how 'Stay With Me' continues, I will go completely bananas. Seriously. Either way, do please tell me where you are. I miss you and your writing talent so much )=._

_RedxAlert: Thank you so much! They got along a bit better in this chapter… though they're still not best friends. But that'll change, I promise._

_P.O.J.A: Ah, you always know exactly how to give good, constructive critisism. Really, I needed that, and I have followed your advice and shortened the scene between Kaiba and Mokuba, because it was, as you said, far too long. The part where Kaiba drags her through town I did leave, though, but that is because, when I wrote it, I had a perfectly good reason for it, namely that Kaiba was already so damn aggravated from losing his free time, Mokuba's wining and on top of that Serenity's lack of knowledge, that he snapped. But as you said, it was a personal qualm, so I won't take it too hard ^^. And, a whole other topic, thank you so, so much for your awesome compliments! I think it's a bit unfair only to reply to your critisism, while you also praise me to the point where I blush. Really, I immensely envy your talent to mix constructive critisism with kindness. Every time I try to give constructive critisism I seem like a total bitch . But you seem to have a perfect balance. Honestly, you both inspire me with your kind words and help me improve my writing with your critisism. You truly are an awesome reviewer. And I'm so sorry I didn't give you a reply the previous chapter; hopefully this one makes up for that ;)._

_Eleonore Magilinon: Ah, your words made me grin so widely my jaw's gonna be sore at least another week. All I can say is thank you, thank you so much for your kind words, especially about the worst chapter in the entire story so far XD. I really hope you enjoyed the sixth even more than the fifth ^^._

_lucy: Thanks! I'm glad you still enjoy the story, even though the last chapter was rushed. I'm sorry for updating so late, but nonetheless I do hope you've enjoyed this chapter ;)._

_SunflowerIce: Ah, I'm so glad you found the chapter entertaining. And why you have that feeling? Hmmm… I don't know. You're just going to have to find out ;)._

_Bloodrose: Thank you so much! Always nice to have a fellow silentshipper around^^. Sorry I kept you waiting so long, hope you enjoyed the chapter!_

_D17-pharaohfox: Your review was definitely one of the best in the bunch. It's nice words like yours that keep me motivated =). I'm truly glad you like the story so far, hopefully this chapter didn't disappoint._

_sleepy dreamer 9: Thank you! I'm really glad you enjoy the story and I hope you keep reading._

_hyperbookslover: I know, a happy ending seems pretty far away, doesn't it? But yeah, there will be a lot more laughs to come before they actually start to get along. Thanks for reviewing!_

_d-master: You know, that's quite an interesting idea, though I'm not sure if Kaiba would be careless enough to mix up one of his precious Blue Eyes. Maybe I'll let him mix up some other card, like the Crush Card. Anyway, thanks for thinking with me and for reviewing._

_Ultimate Ending: Aw, thank you so much, you're so nice to me^-^. I'm sorry if the kiss didn't really seem believable, but I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless. I am sorry for the extremely late update, hope you still liked this chapter._

_kitty: Thank you very much! I try =)_

_Mistress 0f Dragons: Thank you so much for all of your reviews, and for noticing the error (I still have to go and change that… Ah, I'm too lazy for my own good). And sorry for the late update, hope you enjoy nevertheless^^._


	7. Guardian

**Random Stranger**

**_Summary: _**_In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. __Silentshipping__._

**_Disclaimer: _**_I do not own __Yu__-__Gi__-Oh, Rolls Royce or Stephen King. Thank you._

_**Author's note: **__It's an update, it's an update! Yes, chapter 7 of 'Random Stranger' is finally here! It took me two months, but hey, at least the chapter is up faster than the previous one! Ah, no, I had some trouble with this chapter, actually. Because when I started this, I had a completely different concept in mind. I was going to let Serenity have a duel, to show her __newfound__ stills, and end it with a fluffy scene in which she would tell __Kaiba__ she won. So I wrote a duel. And man, was it boring. Seriously, writing a duel is awful, because you have to describe EVERYTHING. Seriously. 'It is player 1's turn. Player 1 draws one card. Player 1 summons monster 1. Monster 1 attacks monster 2. Player 2 lost this many life points.' Ugh... Even I, as the writer, nearly fell asleep when I re-read it. So I happily deleted everything and decided to start over . Which results in... this! A chapter I'm actually quite fond of. Some parts might be a little off, but I personally like the concept. Plus, there is fluff! ^_^ You are warned. Now I just hope I didn't yank Kaiba too much out of character to make the fluffness happen. Anyway, this A/N has gotten far too long (I don't know why I always write such long notes. Maybe I should call it the Author's letter the next time). I will not bother you any longer. Enjoy the story._

* * *

_**Chapter 7: Guardian**_

_**

* * *

**_

Serenity stirred the clear fluid in her glass with the bright pink straw that came with it. Her chin was resting in her hand, and a sigh of boredom left her lips about every five seconds as she observed the constantly moving crowd.

Her day had started out so perfectly. Since it was the very first Saturday of the summer holidays, she and her friends had decided to spend the afternoon at the beach, which was still her very favorite place in the entire world. After an afternoon of fun, they had gone the Kame Game Shop, where Yugi's grandfather, with a little help from Joey, had served them the most wonderful festive meal. It had been a perfect day. That was, until Duke has suggested that a visit to the new club down the street would be a good way to end the first day of summer.

And so there she was. In a club called _Bubbles_, sitting at the bar, stirring her glass of mineral water with a pink straw. Yugi and Tea were out on the dance floor, dancing to the incredibly loud music that surely couldn't be healthy for the human eardrums. Joey and Mai had disappeared from her sight, though she knew exactly what those two were off to do. Duke was sitting at the far right end of the bar, obviously drunk, with a complete harem of girls surrounding him. Bakura was on the other side of the room, desperately trying to get rid of a drunk woman who was trying to get him to dance with her. Tristan had also caught the interest of a girl, and he was now dancing with her, though he occasionally shot a glance in Serenity's direction. Everyone was having fun. Everyone except Serenity. And maybe Bakura.

She took a sip of the now lukewarm water, then sighed again. If only she could have someone to talk to, this evening would be a lot less dreadful. But so far, the only ones who had spoken a word to her were Tristan when he'd asked if it was okay with her if he danced with another girl, and various drunk guys, amongst who Duke, asking her if she wanted either a drink or a dance. She had told Tristan it was fine, and had declined ever offer any man had given her that evening.

After another ten minutes and three guys asking her to dance, Serenity had had it. Her friends had basically abandoned her, all the horny men were driving her insane, the music was giving her a huge headache and the sickening smell of alcohol that lingered in every corner made her want to retch.

Maybe a little air would help. Just a little time away from the crowd would surely do her some good. She desperately needed a break from all the loud noises and nauseating smells.

Satisfied with her plan, Serenity slid off the barstool she'd been occupying and mangled in with the dancing people on the floor, all the while trying to find a backdoor she could use.

She soon spotted a door nearby, and she gladly ducked out of the hyperactive crowd. She took a hold of the handle, and, with some trouble, seeing as it was rather rusty, eventually managed to push the handle down. The door opened, revealing a steep staircase that ran all the way back down to the street below. There was another door down there, one that would probably take her completely outside, back in front of the club's entrance, but that wasn't what she was after. She'd just go down the stairs, spent a little time there to clear her system, and then go back up to find her friends.

The climb downstairs was harder then Serenity had expected. The iron stairs were steep and greasy, and the high-heeled sandals she was wearing weren't the appropriate footwear for the slippery surface. More than once the auburn-haired young woman had to grab hold of the handrail to keep herself from falling.

Though it took her a while, Serenity eventually reached the bottom of the staircase. Carefully seeking out the least filthy spot, she sat herself down on the second last step of the stairs, her tired feet resting on the concrete floor. Ah. Peace.

The music was still audible, even all the way down there, but it had quieted down so much Serenity wasn't able to make out the words of the song they were currently playing. It was great. No loud music, no annoying guys, no hyperactive dancing adolescents. Just peace.

She sat there for quite a while, approximately twenty minutes, before the hard iron step she was sitting on started to hurt her buttocks. Deciding it would be best to go back into the club and find her friends so they could head home, Serenity placed her weight on her heels again.

Climbing up the stairs went faster than descending down them, but Serenity still maintained a relatively slow pace, scared she might fall if she didn't. She managed to get up the first ten steps. Then disaster stroke.

As she put her right foot on the eleventh step and put her weight on it, the heel of her shoe made a very unpleasant sound. Before Serenity could remove the pressure of her body weight from her shoe, the heel snapped.

Not prepared in the least for that, Serenity lost her balance. An attempt to grab the handrail proved to be in vain, and she couldn't prevent herself from falling backwards.

She tumbled down the painfully hard, iron stairs. Luckily, she hadn't been that high up, and so she soon reached the floor, her ass hitting the concrete, leaving her in a less than unflattering position.

Moaning in pain, Serenity rubbed her particularly painful back. Damn it, that fall was sure to leave a lot of bruises and scratches. She could already see a few on the bare skin of her legs, and just the mere sight of them made her want to cry.

Scowling herself for buying her high-heeled sandals in a cheap outlet store, Serenity took both her shoes off and picked up the loose heel that had fallen down along with her. If she wanted to try to get up the stairs a second time, she'd take her chances without those murderous things on her feet.

She grabbed the handrail so she could pull herself out of her rather humiliating position. There was just one problem. When she tried to put weight onto her right foot, she felt a strong pain, and her ankle twisted in a way she didn't know was possible.

She cried out in pain, and instantly fell back again. After she had carefully readjusted herself, she started to examine her extremely painful ankle. It seemed fine at first sight, but just the slightest touch made her flinch. Crap. It must've twisted when her heel had snapped. Geez, she hoped it wasn't broken. Otherwise the summer holidays wouldn't be that much fun for her.

She pulled herself up again, this time putting all of her weight on her left leg. So… what to do next? She could try to get up the stairs a second time, but that would probably be impossible, seeing as she could only use one foot, and hopping up the stairs would only resolve in another fall. No, it would be better to use the door to go outside. She had seen a phone booth outside when they'd driven to the club; she could use it to call Joey on his cell phone, and then he would make sure she got home safely.

Satisfied with her new plan, Serenity turned around, picked up her now worthless shoes and hopped towards the door on her left foot, using the wall for support. She then took the handle and tried pushing it down… only to find yet another huge setback.

It was locked.

Her eyes widened in panic as she tried to push the handle down again, and again, but it was no use. It was locked all right, and even though the door looked old and rusty, it was still solid enough to remain standing.

Serenity pushed against the door, trying to use her shoulder to break it down, but her attempts proved to be in vain. She was only a small young woman with an immobile ankle; she couldn't win a fight against a steel door.

Giving up, she slumped down and sat, her back against the wall. Great. So now what was she supposed to do? Since she and her friends would all go to the same place, she hadn't bothered to bring a cell phone for the evening. She couldn't get up the stairs, and she couldn't go out the door either. She was trapped. Trapped in the small square room between the stairs and the door, with a body full of bruises, an ankle that was now starting to swell and absolutely no way to contact the outside world. Could this evening get any worse?

Desperate, hurt, alone and helpless, Serenity burst into tears.

* * *

Kaiba stepped outside the small office, back into the large, busy room that was packed with adolescents. A smirk was on his lips, and seeing the crowd of dancing teenagers only made it grow wider. Oh yes, this had been a very valid investment.

Since Duel Monsters, or any other game for that matter, was the least popular in summer, when people preferred those ridiculous activities such as swimming, he knew he needed to find his flow of money elsewhere. It was like that every summer. So, he had purchased an old building three weeks ago, and had it made into one of those nightclubs that seemed to be so popular amongst the young adults these days. His newest investment had only been open for the public's eye for a few days now, and yet _Bubbles_ was already packed with people.

Sure, there were still a few things that needed to be patched up. The main room and the little backdoor rooms for the couples were already in tiptop shape, but a few spots could use a new lick of paint. The manager office, which he had just left, for example. And the backdoors weren't really in mint condition either, to say the least, though they were able to be used.

But overall, Kaiba was satisfied. After his little talk with the manager he'd hired, and seeing the profit rates, he knew he had absolutely nothing to complain about. It had been yet another great move on his part.

Still, as wonderful as his newest investment was, Kaiba wasn't planning on staying in the club. He looked strangely out of place in his black suit, the music was playing far too loudly for his tastes and the strong smell of alcohol combined with sweat made his nose cringe.

To avoid getting recognized, Kaiba stayed as far away from the dance floor as possible. He nearly had his back against the wall as he snuck around the crowd, silently praying that no one would spot him.

He appeared to be in luck; he made it to the closest backdoor without being seen. He knew going out the front door would be suicide, so he decided to use that backdoor, even if it was old and dirty. He'd just have his shoes cleaned the next day.

He had to tug on the handle quite roughly, but the door opened for him, and he quickly slipped through it. Phew. No insane fangirls jumping him this time. Hallelujah.

Swiftly, he descended down the iron stairs that would lead him outside. His well-crafted black shoes barely made any sound when they collided with the steel, and even though the steps were greasy and slippery, Kaiba didn't notice it at all. Sometimes he was extremely glad he was able to afford the best cordwainer on the planet.

The stairs were long, but Kaiba kept a quick pace. He soon found himself at the bottom of the stairs, and he was about to use the door to go outside, when he realized that something, or rather, someone, was sitting in the corner.

It appeared that she hadn't even noticed he was there, for she had her face buried in her hands, and was sobbing so loudly Kaiba was surprised he hadn't heard her sooner.

Frankly, he was rather unsure of what to do next. The girl was between him and his way out, and he knew it would be nearly impossible to sneak back up the stairs without her noticing him. He really had no choice in the matter; one way or another, he had to address her… but he wasn't sure if he could do that without making her cry even harder.

Knowing it would be best to just get it over with already, Kaiba loudly cleared his throat. The girl's head shot up immediately, and Kaiba realized that this crying piece of misery wasn't just any girl; she was Serenity Wheeler.

She looked positively horrible. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were puffy, her nose was bright red and her clothes were wrinkled and filthy. How did she wind up here, looking like that?

He decided to simply ask. "What happened to you, Wheeler?"

She looked up at him, tears still streaming down her cheeks, though her eyes showed she was very relieved someone had come down to find her. "M-my h-heel broke," she sobbed, showing him the two parts of rubber and plastic that had once formed a shoe. "I f-fell."

Kaiba didn't see the problem. "So? You can either get up the stairs without those ridiculous heels, or you can go outside." Was she really so dense she couldn't understand that?

She shook her head no, then lifted her right leg. "M-my ankle h-hurts," she choked out, and he could indeed see that her ankle had swollen quite a bit. That surely couldn't be good. He knelt down besides her and took her sore ankle loosely in his hands. With gentleness Serenity didn't know he could posses, he examined it, running his hands up and down the swollen area, occasionally pressing softly against the bone, which earned him a soft whimper on her part.

"Can you move your toes?"

"My t-toes?," she asked, confused, as she looked down at her foot. She slowly tried to wiggle her toes, and gladly found that all five of them complied.

"Good," he said. "Then it's not broken."

She breathed a sigh of relief, and she even found herself smiling. "I'm glad," she sighed, wiping away the tears that were still lingering on her cheeks. She'd be fine now. Her ankle wasn't broken and now that she wasn't alone anymore, everything didn't seem half as bad.

He rose back to his feet, his eyes fixated on the door. Before he could even take a step towards it, she spoke. "It's locked."

Kaiba frowned. "It shouldn't be."

Wanting to see for himself, he tried to push the handle down. It wouldn't budge, for it was indeed locked. Damn it. Maybe the manager of this place wasn't as good at his job as he'd first anticipated. What moron would leave the door upstairs open, but keep the door downstairs locked? It was stupid and would annoy costumers because they'd have to walk back up the stairs again, or create an even worse situation in which someone got hurt… like now.

Luckily, he owned the building, and therefore had a skeleton key that fitted on every door in it. Reminding himself to attend the manager to his mistake the next time he came to pay a visit to the club, Kaiba retrieved a large bundle of keys from his pocket. He had one key for every building that he owned. He wouldn't entrust it to anyone, not even his brother, and so he kept the bundle on him at all times.

Even though he had labeled every key, it took him a while to find the right one. Once he had found it, however, he shoved it in the lock and turned it, effectively opening the door.

Serenity was surprised Kaiba had the keys to the door, but she didn't dare to ask why, afraid to get one of Kaiba's snappy comebacks. At least she could now evacuate her original plan of finding a phone booth to call Joey and finally get the hell back home.

Slowly, she stood, relying on only her left leg and the wall to carry her weight. She then tried to make her way out the door, only to be stopped by her supposed boyfriend, who was blocking her path.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Outside," she said, as if it was the most logical thing in the world that a girl with a badly sprained ankle would want to take a stroll. "I saw a phone booth not too far from here on the way over, and if I can reach it, I can call Joey and tell him that…"

"And tell him what?," Kaiba rudely interrupted her. "That you fell, twisted your ankle and found yourself before a locked door? Or that you're supposed-to-be boyfriend came down and opened the door for you, but then left you to hop all the way to a phone booth while his car was parked right around the corner and he could've easily taken you home?"

"Eh… well… I suppose I could just say the door was open…," she suggested.

He smirked at her ingenuity, but he also knew that, even if she were to reach the phone booth and pretend he hadn't run in to her, there was still one tiny problem. "And I'm sure you're carrying your change for the phone… where?"

Her eyes widened. Shoot, he was right. She didn't have any money on her; Joey had covered all Serenity's expenses for the evening. But hey, she was in a room, or whatever it was, with one of the richest men on the planet. He would surely have some change, right? She didn't like bothering him, but it would be better than having to ask him for a ride home.

"I hate to ask, but do you have some change I can borrow?," she asked timidly.

He smirked. "Only if a hundred dollar bill can fit in the machine. Otherwise, no."

"A cell phone, maybe?"

He searched his pockets, but soon shook his head. "I left it in my car."

She hung her head in defeat, and she silently sat back down. That was it, she was out of ideas. She wouldn't be able to get out of this mess by herself. She had to ask Kaiba to give her a ride home.

"Then… could you, please, take me home?"

Kaiba, who had seen that coming, sighed, but complied. As if he really had a choice. Since he was her 'boyfriend', he was responsible for her wellbeing.

Before Serenity could even begin to say thank you, he knelt down next to her. His right arm took a firm hold of her knees, while the other wrapped itself around her lower back. He then stood.

Caught off guard, Serenity quickly threw her arms around his neck in order to protect herself from falling. "W-what are you doing?," she stuttered, feeling rather embarrassed that he would have to carry her around like a child.

"Well, unless you want to hop all the way to my car, on your single bare foot, I believe this is the only way I'll get you there."

"I can hop!," she said quickly. "You said your car was just around the corner… right?" She really didn't want to cause him any more trouble; she had already asked him to bring her home, and she didn't want him be sore from carrying her.

"That was a figure of speech, Wheeler. It's six blocks away from here."

"Oh…," she mumbled. Even though she was quite confident in her hopping abilities, she was sure she wouldn't be able to make it six blocks around. She had to accept his help.

"I'm sorry I'm causing you all this trouble," she apologized as he pushed the door further open and stepped outside into the cool summer air.

He didn't answer her, but simply kept on walking down the badly illuminated street. She figured he was saving his breath. After all, it was quite the task to carry another human being as far as he had to. Not many people were capable of such a physically demanding task. She could feel the tensed muscles underneath the soft skin of the arms that were holding her, and immediately felt guilty. What if he would have sore arms the next day? It would be all her fault. Damn it, why couldn't she just have bought a better pair of heeled sandals?

"What were you doing there, anyway?"

Kaiba's voice shook her out of her thoughts. She looked up at his face, confused. "Where?"

"In that club."

"Oh, there… Well, my friends kind of dragged me along… I don't really like clubs, but I figured it could be fun." She sighed. "It wasn't, though. The smell of alcohol that lingers in places like that always makes me feel nauseous. I figured some fresh air would help, and I went to find a backdoor… You know the rest."

Kaiba rolled his eyes and cast his look down at her for a split second before he looked ahead again, to make sure he didn't run into a street light. "I take it you never even mentioned to your friends that you don't like clubs?"

She cast her look downwards. "I don't want to hurt their feelings."

"And that's exactly your problem."

"My problem?"

"You need to grow a backbone, Wheeler," he said sternly. "Not wanting to hurt someone's feelings isn't the same as letting others use you as a doormat."

She didn't answer him, and so he continued. "Take the incident with Taylor and Devlin for example. I get they're your friends and you don't want to tell them to get lost, but you could've simply said you weren't ready for a relationship yet. But instead, you try to find a way out, a way in which you wouldn't have to reject either of them. And just look how well that served you."

Serenity, despite herself, smiled. Who knew Seto Kaiba could give helpful advice?

"I don't think it served me too bad," she said, honestly, the smile still on her lips.

Even though he was still looking straight ahead, she could see his eyebrows rise, and she had to suppress a giggle. "No, really. I mean, Tristan and Duke did back off without me having to reject them. My brother's treating me like an adult instead of a child… And you're really not that bad either."

He stopped, and looked down at her. She could see the disbelief and skepticism in his eyes.

"I'm serious," she said firmly, now looking directly into his blue orbs. "I really don't think you're as horrible a person everyone claims you to be." She grinned. "If you were, you wouldn't be carrying me right now."

He shook his head, amused, before he started walking again. "You want me to drop you, then?"

For emphasis, he let his hold slip from just a split second before catching her again. That definitely had an effect; she squealed in terror and tightened her grip around his neck to prevent herself from falling.

He chuckled, waiting for her to say she'd been wrong, and that he was indeed an ass. It never came. Instead, she buried her face in his neck and whispered: "Please don't let me fall."

He didn't know why, but for some reason, he tightened his grip around her, as if to assure her he wouldn't. Even though he was looking ahead, he could see the smile she was flashing him. Why she wasn't pissed at him for nearly dropping her was beyond him.

Well, he'd have to put her down soon anyway. They had nearly reached his car, which he had parked so far away from the club to assure its safety. He didn't really trust a bunch of drunk teenagers around his expensive vehicle.

They finally reached the right parking lot. It was a garage, with three floors. Kaiba, now very glad he had decided to park his car on the ground floor, pushed open the door with his left shoulder and entered. The car he had picked for the evening, a deep blue Rolls Royce, was easily spotted, and Kaiba was soon standing right next to it.

"I'm going to put you down now," he announced. He slowly bend down until her feet were nearly touching the ground, then let go of her knees. Once he was sure she had found balance on her left foot, he released her lower back as well.

"Thank you," she said, smiling.

"You're welcome," he answered stiffly.

Once Kaiba had unlocked the doors and the both of them were seated and buckled up, he stuck the keys in the ignition sloth, but didn't turn them yet. Instead, he searched for something in the small, but handy little box that was cleverly hidden in the armrest between the two seats. When he found it, he tossed it to the girl next to him, who clumsily, but successfully, caught it.

Surprised, Serenity looked down at the object Kaiba had tossed her, and found that it was one of those expensive BlackBerry's that she wouldn't be able to afford in a lifetime.

"Call your brother."

"Oh, right," Serenity mumbled, having forgotten all about Joey in the process. She had to tell him she was already on her way home; she wouldn't want him and her friends to search the entire club for her when she was already safe and sound.

While she fumbled with the advanced piece of technology, trying to find out how to make a call, Kaiba fired up the engine and drove towards the scruffy building he had already seen a few times too often.

Sometime later, Serenity had finally dialed the right number. Kaiba, with slight interest, listened in on the one-sided conversation.

"Joey? Yes, it's me, Serenity. No, I'm fine, really. Just a bit of a twisted ankle. It's a long story… I'll tell you when you get home. Yes, I'm on my way there right now. No, I'm not walking alone in the dark. No, I didn't take a cab. Yes, I know you don't trust cabdrivers. No, I did not get in the car with a stranger. Seto is actually driving me home. Yes, Seto. Uhu. I'm actually not sure. Yes, I'll ask."

She pulled the phone away from her ear and turned to Kaiba. "He wants to know why you were in the club to begin with," she said, kindly rephrasing Joey's angry words.

"I own the place," Kaiba stated flatly.

She nodded, slightly surprised, before going back to the conversation with her brother. "Joey, are you still there? Yes, he is the owner of the club. No, I don't know why a gaming company would buy a club. I don't know that either. Yes, I'm sure I'm okay. No, you don't have to come straight home, I can manage. Alright? Okay then. Bye Joey."

With a sigh, she pushed the red button that would end the conversation. She was hoping Joey wouldn't go straight home to find out if she was alright. When her brother was concerned about her, he had the tendency to become a little reckless, and the last thing she wanted now was for him to be involved in a car crash.

She handed the BlackBerry back to Kaiba, and barely a second after that, he pulled up in front of the scruffy building that was Serenity's home. He turned off the engine, then tucked the expensive PDA away in the inner pocket off his jacket.

Kaiba exited the vehicle and walked around to the other side. Serenity had already opened the door, and was now trying to get out – unsuccessfully. With a sigh, he reached for her, and scooped her up in his arms a second time. As if she'd ever be able to climb all those stairs up to her apartment on her own. Damn that building for not having an elevator.

She muttered what seemed the thousandth thanks that evening, as Kaiba carried her to the front door of the building. Since his arms were full, Serenity had to push the handle down, which was, to say the least, quite the task when you're laying horizontally. She eventually managed, and Kaiba proceeded by pushing the door open with his shoulder and entering the building.

Now was the most dreaded part. Walking up four sets of stairs with a woman in his arms would be absolutely excruciating, even for someone who was as fit as he was. Again, damn that building for not having an elevator…

The climb was indeed excruciating. Though Serenity was definitely not heavy for a woman her age, she wasn't exactly a feather either. As fit as he was, Kaiba could soon feel the muscles in his legs and arms ache, and his breathing slowly became heavier. So, as you can imagine, he was more than happy to put the girl back on her feet, or rather, foot, once the two had finally reached the door that would lead to apartment 428.

Serenity gave him a worried look as he flexed his muscles. "Are you very sore?"

"No," Kaiba answered her, not completely honest. "Only a little stiff."

She smiled, glad he wasn't as sore as she had anticipated, then turned towards the door. After retrieving her house key, the only item she always carried with her, from the cleverly hidden pocket in her rather short pink skirt, she opened the door and hopped inside.

Kaiba was quick to go after her. He closed the door behind him, then followed Serenity, who was surprisingly fast on one leg, to the living room.

He entered just in time to see her lay down on the couch, her right foot elevated by one of the cushions. Once she was seated, she took a look at her painful ankle, and couldn't help but let out a small whimper. What had been a perfectly shaped, slender ankle only a few hours ago, was now a thick, red, useless extension of her leg. Even her foot had swollen, making the whole seem as if it had come straight out of a horror movie. Not to mention the throbbing pain.

"Are you sure it isn't broken?," she asked in a high voice.

"Can you still move your toes?"

After a slightly painful, but successful attempt, she nodded.

"Then I'm fairly sure it isn't broken."

"_Fairly_ sure?"

"I can't be a hundred percent sure. But if your ankle was broken, even the slightest movement would hurt tremendously. Since the movement of toes requires the use of almost every bone in ones foot and ankle, and you can move them without crying out in pain, I'm indeed _fairly_ sure that your ankle isn't broken."

She nodded, having a lot more faith in his diagnosis now that he had explained it to her. "But still," she began, not yet completely convinced, as she looked at the lump of meat that was supposed to be her foot. "Why has it swollen so much? And why is it so red?"

"It is quite simple, really. When you twisted your ankle, your blood vessels started to pour fluid in the tissue close to the sprained joint to protect it from further harm, which is why your ankle had swollen so much. The reason it is so red is inflammation, which happens when a lot of white blood cells gather to make sure infections are kept at bay. Hence why your ankle looks like a creation of Stephen King."

"Wow," she said, impressed. "How come you know so much about medicine?"

"I have an M.D.," he said casually, as if they handed those out to everyone who asked.

"Really? I thought someone like you would have gone to business school."

"I completed many studies. Whatever was either interesting or relevant, I studied." Yeah, whatever was interesting, relevant, or whatever his sick-minded stepfather forced on him.

Before she could react, he asked: "Do you have a first-aid kit?"

"Yes, I do. What will be the treatment, doctor?"

"Your ankle needs to be cooled in order to reduce the swelling, and then a splint to prevent it from further harm," he explained. "Assuming you were smart enough to fill the ice bag and put it in the freezer beforehand, and your first-aid kit contains a roll of bandage, you should be fine within the next five or six weeks."

"Five or six weeks," she mumbled, a bit disappointed. So far for her summer holidays. The way things looked now, she'd have to go back to school the day after she could stand on her right foot again. Oh, joy…

She was so busy sulking she hadn't even noticed that Kaiba had left the room. She only realized it when he came back to her, the first-aid kit in one hand and the ice bag in the other.

The ice was first. He carefully placed it on the swollen ankle, making sure most of the red area was covered by the bag of ice. Serenity shivered from the sudden drop in temperature, but quickly regained herself. "How long does it need to be cooled?"

"Ten, fifteen minutes. Maybe twenty."

And so they waited. Kaiba occasionally shifted the bag a bit, to make sure the entire swollen area got covered, and to prevent the foot from becoming ischemic. When the time had expired, however, the condition of the ankle had surely improved. Though it was still red and a little swollen, Serenity could now actually see where the leg stopped and the ankle started, and that was already a huge relief for her.

Kaiba placed the ice bag on the small coffee table before he opened the first-aid kit. He retrieved a large roll of thick, white gauze bandage from it.

"This might sting," he warned before he placed the end of the roll of her foot. Putting quite some pressure on it to make sure it would stay put, he wrapped the roll around her foot and ankle numerous time. Serenity occasionally winced, especially when he came around the twisted joint, but other than that, it went rather smoothly. After only a minute or two, Serenity's sore ankle was securely wrapped up, the end of the bandage kept firmly in place with a few strips of the adhesive tape from the first-aid kit.

Kaiba disappeared again, and returned shortly with a glass of water in his hand. After rummaging through the first-aid kit again, he found what he was looking for: a strip of small, pink pills. He popped one of them out of the strip, then handed the pill, along with the glass of water, to Serenity.

"Ibuprofen," he explained when he saw her confused look. "It'll help against the inflammation, which will reduce the pain."

Trusting his judgment blindly, she took the items from him, placed the pill inside her mouth and, with the help of the water, swallowed it.

"And now?," she asked.

"And now we wait." He sat down in one of the two cream-colored armchairs.

"We wait for what?"

"We wait for your brother to come home." He smirked. "After all, a good boyfriend would never leave his girlfriend alone when in this condition."

And so that was what they did. They sat and they waited, up until the point where Joey stormed into the room with a worried Mai in tow and Kaiba was finally able to excuse himself.

* * *

_Alright, so I have a few things to point out about this chapter. First of, the ending (chronological order, huh?). Does it seem rushed? I think it seemed rushed. I actually had a scene with Joey and Mai written, but I felt as if it just destroyed... well, everything. This chapter was meant to focus on S&S alone, and that scene just seemed very wrong. So, the ending's rushed. Sorry. Furthermore, the medical expertise in this chapter is slightly off. For one, when you cool a very swollen ankle two hours after it twisted, the swelling won't reduce as fast as I described. I just did that to make poor Serenity feel better, and to make Kaiba seem like a better doctor XD. Oh, and normally, a twisted ankle doesn't take six weeks to heal. Three, four weeks, I'd say. But I really need an excuse to get through the summer holidays already, because it is rather hard to write about the shining sun and singing birds when it's already snowing outside .. On a final note (yes, I'll stop bugging you after this) I will not be posting review replies at the bottom of every chapter anymore. You see, a very nice and observant reviewer named FireEdge (thank you!) attended me to the fact that posting review replies at the bottom of a chapter is illegal on FanFiction. So, no more replies, sadly. When something sticks out to me, though (like a question or a certain comment) I will react to it here. And, even though I won't be replying to reviews down here anymore, please do note that your review is very welcome and very appreciated. And now I will shut up and let you have some rest. Until next chapter!_


	8. Friend

**Random Stranger**

**_Summary: _**_In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. Silentshipping._

**_Disclaimer: _**_I write fanfiction. If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh!, I wouldn't be doing that._

**_Author's letter (yes, I actually called it author's letter. I have no sense of humor whatsoever): _**_So, I'm fi-nal-ly back with another chapter. Man, this one was hard. I already knew everything I wanted to happen this chapter, but I had a really tough time putting it all into words. I guess it was sort of a mini-writer's block. Plus, school hasn't granted me much time to write either. However, I'm back, with a new chapter. And to be honest, I like it. I had a struggle with it, and it's a bit dialogue-heavy, but I'm pleased with the result. Also, on another note, I want to set two things straight about the previous chapter. One is Kaiba's M.D. Yes, he has one in this story. Please remember that the second genre for this story is humor, people. It was meant as a little inside joke. Secondly, I thought I had completely messed up the time Serenity had to spend with a bandage around her ankle, but I looked it up, and it appears that a second-degree sprain (which is severe, but not extreme) will need about five weeks rest, so I wasn't really that far off. Anyway, I've said enough already. Please enjoy the chapter._

* * *

_**Chapter 8: Friend**_

* * *

As the days passed by, Serenity found living with a sprained ankle to be a lot easier than she had initially thought. The crutches Joey had gotten her the day after the incident got her nearly everywhere, so she barely missed out on any summer fun. The only thing she truly hated was how damn itchy that bandage got when the temperature was exceptionally high.

However, overall, she had nothing to complain about. Joey, Mai and her friends were all very helpful, getting her everything she needed and taking her everywhere they went. The best part, however, was the fact that Kaiba, being the good 'boyfriend' he was, got out of his way to pay her a visit each and every day in an attempt to keep up their act.

Most of the time he only stopped by to ask how she was before hurrying off to wherever important he had to be, but once Mai had tricked him into having dinner with the three of them. He had actually been very civil, not even once insulting her brother, though the two men had constantly shot hateful glances at each other. After that affair, Joey had refused to let Kaiba sit at their kitchen table again, mumbling something about rich assholes eating away his hard-earned money.

That particular day, at around six in the evening, Serenity, her brother and their friends had all gathered in the living room of the Wheelers' apartment to have a good, old-fashioned movie night. Tristan and Yugi were out to get some Chinese food (which, according to Joey, was a traditional dinner before a movie night). Waiting for them to return, the others were either watching TV or having a conversation with each other. The only one who hadn't focused her attention on either of those activities was Serenity, who kept her eyes locked on the door.

She knew Kaiba would be at the apartment soon. The time of his arrival always varied from six to seven, after he got away from work. Since she was aware of the fact that Kaiba was not too fond of her friends, she wanted to spare him the suffering by getting him out as soon as possible.

So, when she heard the doorbell ring only a few minutes later, she quickly grabbed her crutches. "I'll get it."

"Don't be silly, hun," Mai said, leaving the couch before Serenity even had the chance to do so herself. "You just stay put. I'll get it."

Serenity sighed as she sunk back into the soft cushions of the couch. So far for sparing Kaiba the suffering. Well, he'd have to get out of this one himself. Surely he would be able to come up with a good excuse to leave.

As expected, when Mai returned, she brought a less than amused Kaiba with her. The chatter that filled the room quieted down at once.

Since Yugi, who would normally have broken the ice, wasn't present, Tea decided to assume the role as peacemaker. "Hey Kaiba!," she greeted cheerfully. "What brings you here?"

Instead of Kaiba, Mai was the one who answered her question. "His _girlfriend_, of course!," she exclaimed joyfully. "There hasn't been a single day he hasn't stopped by to see her ever since that unfortunate accident. Isn't that adorable?"

Kaiba's right eye twitched. Serenity buried her forehead in the palm of her hand, rolling her eyes in the process. Mai could be so tactless sometimes.

"Yes, well," Kaiba started, his voice dripping with the venom he was trying so hard to keep inside, "I see my_ girlfriend _already has enough company as it is, so…"

He turned around without finishing his sentence, ready to leave, but he was stopped by Mai, who grabbed his arm and literally dragged him back.

"No, no, don't be ridiculous," she said cheerfully, giving Serenity a wink as she did so. "You can stay here for the movie night with us! Right, guys?"

"Sure!"

"Whatever, man."

"Should be fun!"

Kaiba narrowed his eyes and overlooked the group, incredibly skeptic about their sudden approval of his presence. However, everybody simply smiled back at him, approving of his staying. Well, everybody… Duke purposely looked the other way and Joey only gave him a curt, but encouraging nod.

Feeling strangely warm inside, Kaiba decided spending one night with his 'girlfriend' and her friends could do him little harm. He did not have any work left to do, Mokuba was too busy with his own girlfriend to mind his absence, and, even though most wouldn't take his word for it, he actually enjoyed watching a good movie every once in a while. Plus, this would be the perfect opportunity to torment Pin Head, Dice Boy and The Mutt with that fact that he and Serenity were 'an item' now.

"Fine," was his short answer. Without another word, he sat himself down on the rather shabby couch, in between both the Wheeler siblings. Mai, who seemed very pleased with herself at that moment, then squeezed herself between Kaiba and Joey.

The group quickly got used to Kaiba being in their midst, and soon the regular chitchat filled the room once more. Serenity took a swift look around to make sure none of the others were watching her or listening to her, before she softly mumbled to Kaiba: "I'm sorry for this."

Kaiba lightly shook his head, dismissing her apology. "It's my own fault," he grunted in reply. "I could've used a number of excuses."

"Well… yes, that's true, but if you weren't 'dating' me, you wouldn't have to be here," Serenity retorted, determined to put the blame for Kaiba's demise on herself.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Yes Wheeler, you're a horrible, horrible person for doing that to me," he whispered, the sarcasm evident in his voice. "I don't think I can ever forgive you."

Serenity had to put her hand over her mouth to muffle her giggle. There it was again; that humorous side of Kaiba she barely ever got to see. She knew he couldn't afford to make much witty comments in his profession, but she liked it when he threw in one of his sarcastic jokes. They contributed to his humanity.

"What movie are we watching anyway?," Kaiba asked, his voice back to a regular tone now that they were off the sensitive subject.

"I'm not sure what it's called," Serenity answered, "but I know it's a comedy."

"A comedy?"

"Yes. Mai and Tea weren't too keen on action or science fiction, I don't really like horror, and the guys were fiercely against romance, drama and tragedy. We figured comedy would be a good compromise," Serenity explained.

Kaiba smirked lightly. It figured she would hate horror movies. He dared to bet even an outdated one such as _The Birds_ would give the girl nightmares. It reminded Kaiba of Mokuba when he was younger; always begging to stay up late for some movie, then having to sleep in his brother's room because he was too scared the zombies from the thriller would come to eat his brain.

"Well, a comedy should do," he nodded, silently content a romantic movie was out of the question. He knew he wouldn't have been able to keep himself from sneering snappy comments at some unrealistic love story.

"So… why aren't we watching this movie yet?," he asked after observing that no one in the room was showing any signs of preparing the DVD player.

"That's because Yugi and Tristan are still out. They're getting Chinese food," Serenity smiled. "Oh, wait, do you want some as well? I can call them so they can pick up a little extra. Joey, where did you put the phone - ?"

"Don't bother," Kaiba interrupted her. "I already ate."

"Wow, you actually have time to eat while at work?," Joey, whose attention had been caught by Serenity's unfinished question, asked sarcastically. "Can't have been very busy today, huh?"

Remain polite, Kaiba, remain polite. "I dined at a meeting," he explained stiffly. "Some clients prefer a restaurant over the conference room."

"Sounds like fun!," Tea came into the conversation.

"Yes… If you enjoy sitting across from an old geezer who lisps," he commented, resisting the urge to cringe. He could still feel the tiny drops of half-chewed food on his cheek. Well, at least he had gotten a good deal out of it.

Tea made a face, but didn't have the chance to respond, for the sound of the front door opening and closing then filled the room. Yugi and Tristan were back with the food.

"Finally!," Joey cried out. "I'm starving!"

He jumped up and practically ran into the hallway, to come back seconds later with three large plastic bags filled with Chinese food. Yugi and Tristan, relieved of their shipment, walked in just behind him.

Yugi immediately noticed Kaiba sitting on the couch, and smiled brightly at the sight of his presence. Tristan was obviously not nearly as happy as Yugi about Kaiba's sudden appearance, but he tried to smile anyway, which ended up looking as if he had a very sore jaw. In response, Kaiba gave both of them what he considered to be a friendly nod.

After welcoming Yugi and Tristan back into the Wheeler's apartment, the long and excruciating task of finding and handing out all the small boxes of food to the right people began. It was made especially difficult by the fact that some had forgotten exactly what they had ordered, as Yugi and Tristan had been gone for nearly an hour and a half because there had been so many people at the Chinese restaurant.

Eventually, everyone had gotten their rightful share, and Mai quickly popped in the movie they would be watching for the night (Kaiba still had no idea of its title).

Soon they were all caught up in the movie. Everyone was munching away while throwing in the occasional laugh. Serenity had insisted on sharing her food with Kaiba, and thus he too was chewing, on the few shrimp crackers he had allowed himself to accept. It didn't even taste that bad, and the movie wasn't too horrible either. There were a few points of dark humor Kaiba could very well appreciate.

At some point, when they were about halfway through the movie and everyone had long finished their meal (besides Joey and Tristan, who had now turned to a large bag of popcorn), Serenity noticed that Yugi and Tea had cuddled up in one of the armchairs, and that Joey had draped his arm around Mai's shoulders in a display of affection. Knowing what to do, she carefully laid her head on Kaiba's shoulder. Without a second thought, Kaiba snuck his arm around her waist and held it there, as if it was something he did every day. After their one and a half month of 'dating', physical contact had become rather natural to the both of them. Kaiba couldn't help but smirk when Tristan looked over at them and nearly choked on his popcorn.

They stayed in that position for the rest of the movie. When the credits starting rolling, Yugi, who was closest to the television, shut off the DVD player.

Almost immediately, chatter filled the room after two hours of near complete silence. Everybody was talking excitedly about the movie they'd just seen, laughing about the parts they thought were best and discussing the few plot holes that had been there.

Serenity slightly readjusted her head on Kaiba's shoulder so she could look at him. "Did you like the movie?," she asked, a hint of hope in her voice.

"The main character was an idiot," Kaiba commented casually, "and the woman was terribly obnoxious. But the plot was good. And I found that manager very entertaining."

Serenity smiled, knowing that was simply Kaiba's way of saying 'yes, I enjoyed it'. It was good to know he hadn't completely loathed this evening with her and her circle of friends.

Due to their conversation, neither of them noticed how Mai nudged Joey in between the ribs and whispering something to him.

"Oh yeah, sis," Joey commented after Mai's little consult, forcing Serenity to get a bit further away from Kaiba so she could look at him. "I nearly forgot to tell you! You see, we all know how much you love the outdoors, so we've been thinking, since the doc said you'll be up and running again next Friday, we wanted to take you camping for a few days in the woods at the edge of Domino. You know, to celebrate!"

He smiled happily, and all the others wore smiles too. They had obviously been over this more than once. However, Serenity wasn't pleased. At all.

Though she appreciated the fact that her friends wanted to make her happy, there was nothing she hated more than camping. Her mother had once taken her on such a trip because Serenity had wanted it so badly when she was younger. A broken tent and a stray bear had made it a living hell. Oh no, the last thing she wanted was another camping trip.

She cringed a little, trying to come up with some sort of excuse, but none came to her. She couldn't just say 'no' to them, not when they were doing this especially for her, but their plan was positively horrible. How was she going to get out of this?

"I'm sorry Wheeler, but you're going to have to wait in line."

Everyone, including Serenity, simultaneously turned to look at the source of the voice.

"What do you mean by that, Kaiba?," Joey asked, annoyed with Kaiba's tone of speaking.

"Serenity and I already made plans for that weekend," he explained. "I'm taking her to the finest spa resort Japan has to offer."

Serenity looked at him with wide eyes. Was he serious?

"Are you serious?," Joey voiced her thoughts perfectly. "Why?"

"To celebrate, naturally."

"Well… can't you go some other time?"

"The reservations are already made."

"Oh. Well… then…," Joey began, trying to come up with a good reason for them not to go, but not finding one. He just huffed and crossed his arms, leaning back in his seat.

"I'm sorry Joey," Serenity, who was now over her initial shock and figured it would be best to go along with it, apologized, "but we planned this about a week ago. I guess I forgot to mention."

"Huh. A romantic, luxury resort or a plain, smelly forest," Mai said, making movements with her hands, pretending they were the arms of a scale. "I know where I'd want to go!"

The others quickly agreed, and that was the end of their idea to go camping. Just like that. Serenity could kiss Kaiba at that moment, that is, if she hadn't known he was a horrible kisser.

Only a few minutes later, the gang decided it was about time they went home. Kaiba took this as a cue to take his leave as well, and so he stood from the couch. Mai was about to go after the others to let them out, but Serenity had already grabbed her crutches. "I'll go," she said, in a tone that made it obvious to Mai that she wanted to talk to her 'boyfriend' alone in the hallway.

She used her crutches for support as she got up, then she went after the others as fast as she possibly could.

After saying goodbyes, sharing hugs and waving everyone off, she turned to Kaiba, who was calmly leaning against the wall.

"Thank you," was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

"Don't mention it."

"No, really, thank you," she repeated, truly grateful. "I really don't like camping."

"I could tell."

"But… well… _why_ did you save me from that?"

"Because I happen to know for a fact that it is Mokuba and Rebecca's six months anniversary that Saturday," he explained, "and I'd rather be at a resort than at home when they have their 'romantic weekend'." He then smirked. "Besides, I can understand why you don't want to spend three nights in a tent, in a forest, with all of those idiots."

"So we're… actually going?" Serenity had thought the resort has only been an excuse.

"Of course we are. I'll need to pull some strings since it is on short notice, but I'm positive I will be able to get a room for the weekend." He then gave her a stern look. "And don't give me anymore thanks. If I didn't want to get out of the house so badly this weekend, you'd be going off into the woods."

"Oh… okay then," Serenity decided not to disagree with him, though she still felt very much like thanking him. She was going to the most prestigious resort in all of Japan for Christ's sake! She could get massages, mud baths, go to the sauna… The thought of it was wonderful, though she was a little worried about spending an entire weekend alone with Kaiba. He could be a real pain when he wanted to, but she had to admit she was getting rather fond of his presence. Though she knew there was a slim chance he'd return the feeling, she had begun to think of him more and more as a friend over the past few weeks. Hopefully he would eventually be able to see her as a friend as well, and this weekend might be the perfect opportunity to strengthen their bond.

She beamed at him. "I'll see you next weekend."

* * *

The Friday that marked Serenity's departure for her luxurious weekend proved to be a rather hectic day.

First, there was her early doctor's appointment. Whenever she had to, Serenity went to see one of the two general practitioners who operated in a small private practice only a few blocks away from her home. Joey, who had gotten the weekend off from work for their now cancelled camping trip, insisted on going with her. She left her brother in the waiting room; however, as she knew his protective behavior would only make her doctor nervous. Thus, she went in alone, had her bandage removed, had her ankle bended in certain angles a few time, and was out again. The whole process barely took ten minutes.

Then there was packing. Of course, she had already packed a few clothes and other necessities over the course of the week, but there was still a lot to be done. She had yet to pack the objects of daily use, such as her hair- and toothbrush, since she'd had to use those earlier that morning. She also hadn't decided on what books or magazines to bring, and she wasn't quite done with filling her make-up case either. It was a complete chaos.

Luckily for her, Joey was there to help. Since he was in his element when surrounded by chaos, he found most of her missing objects. Serenity then neatly tucked away her precious items, a task which she knew she could never entrust Joey with, as he didn't know the meaning of the word tidy

Eventually, the two siblings managed to find and pack everything Serenity would need. She had her barely filled make-up bag, her hair- and toothbrush, deodorant and perfume, two unread novels, two nightgowns, four pairs of undergarments and four different outfits, including the lilac dress she had received from Kaiba. All the other things she would need, such as towels, shampoo and a robe were all present at the resort, or so their website implied.

When she finally zipped her suitcase shut, both Joey and Serenity let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"That's everything," Serenity breathed, tired but content.

"Thank God," Joey muttered back. He was sprawled out on the couch, his eyes closed.

"We're just in time too," Serenity commented as she took a look at her watch. "It's already five minutes to two."

"What time's Kaiba picking you up then?"

"Two."

"That early?," Joey asked, sitting up in discontent. I thought I'd have some more hours to spend with you before you leave."

Serenity couldn't help but laugh lightly. "Joey, you act as if I'm going away for decades. It's only three days."

"Yeah, well," Joey scowled, "I just don't really trust Kaiba. I mean, he is a _man_, sis, and you'll be living in a single room with him alone for the next few days."

"Nothing is going to happen, Joey," Serenity assured her brother. "Seto and I talked about this already. I want to wait until I'm at least eighteen. Besides, we haven't been dating for that long yet. I don't want to have any advanced physical contact until I'm sure he's the right person for me."

"It's not you I don't trust," Joey growled. "It's_ him_."

"Well, I do trust him," she said, a bit more fierce than she had wanted to, "and I know he would never do anything to hurt me." She sighed. "He's a good person."

"If you say so, sis, then I'll believe you. But just know that if anything happens out there, all you have to do is call me, okay? I'll be there in the blink of an eye."

"I know, Joey. Thank you," Serenity smiled. She decided to hide the small fact that it would take four hours to drive all the way from Domino to the resort.

She then bend down to give his sitting frame a tight hug. Not that it lasted that long; her brother had barely wrapped his arms around her in return before the sound of the doorbell forced them to break apart.

"He does have timing, doesn't he?," Joey grumbled discontentedly.

Serenity smiled as he reluctantly got up. "It's not his fault, Joey."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right," he agreed, though he didn't seem all too convinced.

Joey grabbed Serenity's suitcase and dragged it along with him as the two siblings made their way over to the front door. Since her brother had his hands full, Serenity was the one to open it.

It was indeed Kaiba who had rung the doorbell, standing stiffly in the hallway. He gave Joey a polite enough nod of acknowledgement before he turned towards his supposed girlfriend. "Are you ready?"

"All set," she answered enthusiastically. She took her suitcase from Joey and showed it to him to emphasize her statement. "Packed and everything."

"Good," Kaiba nodded.

"Hey, Kaiba," Joey called out once he noticed their greeting had ended, stepping in between the two fake lovers.

"Wheeler?"

"You take good care of her this weekend."

"Will do."

Joey continued to stare at him for a moment, but soon decided he could do little more. Instead, he turned towards his little sister and spread his arms. Serenity gladly put down her suitcase in order to give him a long hug.

When they finally let go of each other (Joey with quite some reluctance), Serenity took a step backwards. She wanted to pick up her suitcase again, only to realize that Kaiba, acting as the gentleman he was supposed to be, had already taken it. It was quite humorous really, to see such a tall, stoic man holding a bright pink suitcase.

"Well, have fun, then," Joey said after a short but awkward moment of silence.

Kaiba had to fight the urge to say 'Oh, we will…' in a rather suggestive voice, but he managed to remain quiet.

"We will, Joey, I'm sure," Serenity smiled. She then turned to Kaiba. "Shall we go?"

"Let's," was all Kaiba said before he turned around and headed for the staircase. Serenity could only give Joey a last bright smile before she hurried on to catch up with her 'boyfriend'.

When they entered the staircase, Serenity enthusiastically jumped from step to step, pleased about the fact that she was now finally able to walk down the stairs again.

"Slow down, Wheeler," Kaiba said sternly when they reached the second flight of stairs. "You might be able to use that ankle of yours again, but you shouldn't overdo it. Unless you'd like to spend the weekend in the hospital, of course."

"Right," Serenity quickly agreed, immediately slowing her pace. To distract herself from walking, she decided to try and start a conversation. "So… how did Mokuba and Rebecca respond when you told them you weren't going to be there for their big weekend?"

"They were psyched they could have the mansion to themselves," Kaiba responded dryly. "I'm not sure what those two plan to do this weekend, and I sure as hell don't want to find out. I just hope they don't cause all of the staff to run away screaming."

"Is it really that bad?"

"You don't want to know what items housekeeping pulls from his room from time to time."

Serenity grimaced. "I know what you mean. When I clean Joey's room I sometimes find the most gruesome things."

She had expected Kaiba to make a skeptic remark about Joey's sense of hygiene, but instead he asked: "You clean your brother's room?" The disapproval in his voice was hard to miss.

"I do," Serenity confirmed. "Joey had to work six days a week. The last thing he should be concerned about is cleaning his room. So I do it for him, even if he doesn't want me to."

"He doesn't want a clean room?"

"He does, he just doesn't want me to have to clean it for him."

Kaiba didn't answer after that, for the two of them had just reached the small parking lot close to her home where he parked his car for safekeeping. Serenity hadn't even realized they had already walked all the way from her apartment to where they were now.

The car Kaiba had chosen for that day was a long, black one, some sort of a crossover between a regular car and a limousine. Waiting patiently by the car was Ed, the creepy driver, who seemed to have recovered from his flu.

Ed politely opened the door to the backseat for them. Serenity slipped in first. Kaiba followed after handing Serenity's suitcase over to his chauffeur. Ed closed the door. Serenity assumed he was going to put her suitcase in the truck before taking the wheel. She couldn't know; there was a black barrier between Ed and the two passengers. Not that she minded that. Ed was creepy anyway.

"So… the chauffer today, huh?," she asked. "I thought you preferred driving yourself?"

"I do," Kaiba responded curtly. "But it's four hours, and I have good use for them."

It was only then when Serenity noticed the sliver briefcase that was positioned in between them. So Kaiba had brought his work to keep him busy for the next few hours. Serenity sighed softly. If only she had her suitcase with her, then she could've started in one of the novels she had brought. Well, there wasn't much she could do about it now. She'd have to do with gazing out the window.

Time passed slowly. Kaiba had taken out his laptop and some paperwork and was now rapidly typing. Occasionally he switched to the small stack of papers, scribbling something on them before he went back to his portable computer. Serenity could do nothing but watch either him or the dull countryside they were now passing. Sure, she could try to start a conversation with Kaiba, but she didn't want to disturb him when he was so concentrated. Thus, she remained quiet and kept staring out the window.

After about two hours, Kaiba suddenly slammed his laptop shut. Serenity jumped from the loud sound and quickly refocused her attention from the window to her companion.

"Damn idiots!," Kaiba muttered angrily. "This is coming out of their bonus!"

"What's the matter?," Serenity asked, concerned.

"Those morons from Research and Development sent me the wrong blueprints," Kaiba huffed angrily, motioning at the now closed laptop. "I now have a set of blueprints from a product that has been in stores for months already. Without the right ones, I can't continue my calculations."

"Can't you send them an e-mail? Or call them to notify them of their mistake?," Serenity tried to be helpful.

"There's no reach out here," he retorted, nodding toward the dry land behind the window. "No internet, no phone."

"Oh…," was all Serenity could say. "Well… it's only about two more hours to the resort. They'll surely have connection there."

"They better have," Kaiba growled.

Silence fell. Now that Kaiba's schedule had fallen apart, the man had nothing left to do but scowl and angrily stare at the landscape outside. Serenity too had nothing else to do than looking out the window, but she couldn't concentrate on that activity as much as she had before. Without the sound of Kaiba's long fingers tapping the keyboard, a very uncomfortable atmosphere had settled in the backseat of the expensive car.

Finally, she couldn't bear with it anymore. Without really thinking, she blurted out the first reasonable thing that hit her mind. "I know you told me not to this again, but I really do appreciate this," she started, already glad the silence had been broken. "Not just because you saved me from that camping trip, but also because I could never afford a thing like this. So… thank you."

Kaiba gave her a long stare. "What do you mean you can't afford this? How do you expect to pay for your stay, then?"

Serenity's expression quickly turned from happy to horrified. What? Was she supposed to pay for this weekend herself? Oh no, she couldn't, she barely had enough money to get through the month without suffering hunger. Crap, what on earth was she going to do?

A chuckle from Kaiba brought her back into the real world. "Just kidding, Wheeler. You couldn't afford to pay for sixty seconds in that resort."

Serenity took a deep breath of relief. "Please don't scare me like that again. I thought I'd have to camp outside in the parking lot."

"Honestly? You think I'd be that cruel?"

"Yes. I mean, no! I mean…" She sighed. "I don't know. You're hard to read."

"You're not."

"Yeah, I noticed that," she sighed. "We've only been, for a lack of a better word, 'close' for a month and half, and already you can read me better than all my other friends."

The word 'other' did not escape Kaiba's ears, but he didn't comment on it. Were they friends? Had he, Seto Kaiba, king of the antisocial, made a friend? It was hard to believe. Not many people had ever acknowledged him as their friend. Actually, he was sure only Yugi saw him as a friend, but the feeling had never been mutual. He respected Yugi, that's it. No friendship whatsoever. And now this girl, this Wheeler, had somehow decided that they were friends. It was almost amusing. They were acquaintances, colleagues at most. Not friends. Never friends.

"We're not friends," he said loudly, not realized he had been thinking for nearly fifteen minutes.

"Why not?"

"I'm not friendly."

Serenity giggled. "Yes you are. Maybe you don't always show it, but you do have a friendly side. I know you wouldn't have carried me all the way to your car when I was injured if you weren't friendly, or come to see me every day to check up on me. You see it all as a part of our deal, but I think we're already beyond that."

It took Kaiba a moment to process her words. Then he reluctantly concluded she was right. "Fine. We're friends. Don't make a big deal about it."

Serenity smiled. Making friends was fun.

* * *

The remainder of the ride went quietly, but Serenity didn't mind this time. The tension had left the small space she shared with Kaiba, and she was happy about it. This weekend was going to be great.

When the limousine drove through the large gates that would lead it to the parking lot, Serenity couldn't help but feel exited. The building they were approaching was large, but seemed calm and modest, sending out a feeling of tranquility and peace.

Soon Ed had skillfully parked the large car in one of the empty spots in the parking lot. He was quickly at their side to open the door for them. Serenity expected Kaiba to get out immediately so she could follow, but he remained seated, reaching for something he had put in a small storage underneath his chair.

Serenity was surprised to see that the items he had been searching for were a pair of sunglasses and a hat, which he both swiftly put on before exiting the car.

"What's that for?," Serenity asked curiously when she too had left the car.

"It's so that no one will recognize me," Kaiba explained, "since you're not ready for the publicity yet."

She smiled. "See? You really are friendly."

"Friendly my ass," Kaiba muttered. "I just don't want you to look like a deer caught in the headlights on the first pictures of the two of us to reach the headlines."

He then walked around the car to help Ed with the suitcases, effectively cutting of the topic.

Once they both had their suitcases (and Kaiba his additional silver briefcase), they went on inside. Serenity marveled the beautiful interior while Kaiba walked to the front desk to check them in. It wasn't long before they were on their way to their room.

It was on the seventh floor, with two separate single beds, a widescreen television, a separate bathroom with a tub and a spectacular view of the tranquility garden below. As she and Kaiba rode up in the elevator, Serenity could hardly contain her excitement.

Once they were on the appropriate floor, they scurried down the long hallway in search for the right room. They didn't have to look around for long; their room, room 703, was barely four steps away from the elevator.

Kaiba inserted the keycard into the sloth and opened the door. They both went inside.

It immediately hit them.

Kaiba cursed under his breath, and Serenity dropped her suitcase in shock.

Instead of the two single beds they'd been promised, one double bed stood in the center of the room.

* * *

_And there you have it. Chapter 8. All done. A bit of relationship development in this one. Heh, even Kaiba can't deny they're friends. Anyway, I had actually wanted to put the last part of this chapter at the beginning of the next one, but it proved to be such a cute cliffhanger that I couldn't resist putting it here already. And that was really all I had to say about this chapter. About reviews: I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to any of them as of yet. Busy with school, family, you know the drill. However, that does not mean I don't appreciate each and every single review I have received so far. Thank you so much for all your support. It means the world to me._


	9. Roommate

**Random Stranger**

**_Summary: _**_In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. Silentshipping._

**_Disclaimer: _**_I do not own YuGiOh! Oh, or House, M.D. Don't own that either_

_**Authors note: **__Hello and welcome to chapter nine of 'Random Stranger'. The summer holidays have begun and so I finally had the chance to finish this chapter. I won't have to go back to school until September 4th, so hopefully chapter ten won't take too long. Anyway, this chapter is a very, very important chapter. I suppose that's why I found it so difficult to write. Still, I think it came out fairly well, and I hope you'll agree with me. We're getting to the romance, everyone! About time, huh? Oh, and I would like to give a shout out to everyone who's reviewed, favorited, alerted and read. I really appreciate all of you. Thank you all very much for supporting me throughout this story; it makes writing it so much more fun. And now, without further ado, I present to you Chapter nine!_

* * *

_**Chapter 9: Roommate**_

* * *

Serenity let out a heavy sigh as she sat herself down on that cursed, but still very comfortable double bed. Kaiba had left the room over half an hour ago, absolutely furious. She suspected he'd be giving the management a very hard time right about now.

Anxiously awaiting his return, which she hoped would bring good news, she jumped up from the bed and started pacing back and forth in the small space she would be sharing with Kaiba for the next few days. Oh, how she hoped he'd be able to arrange something. Friends or not, she wasn't that keep on having to share a bed with a man, no matter who he was.

Well, if Kaiba failed to convince the management to do something about their problem, there was always the floor. If she had to, Serenity could suck it up and spend a few nights curled up on the soft carpet. It wouldn't be too good for her joints, but hey, the resort was full of skilled masseuses who would be able to rub those pains away in no time.

Just as she bent over to feel how thick the carpet was, Kaiba entered the room, slamming the door shut behind him with a lot more force than necessary. Serenity could clearly see the dark cloud that was floating above his head as he stomped across the room and rather ungracefully plopped down on the wooden chair that accompanied the small desk plastered to the widest wall.

Knowing it had to be bad news, Serenity was almost afraid to ask. "What happened?"

"We're stuck here for the next three days," Kaiba muttered angrily. "It seems my specific request for a room with separate beds did not reach the management."

"Can't they assign us another room?," Serenity asked hopefully.

"It's the summer holidays. This place is booked."

"Oh…," she sighed, the little hope she'd had shooed away instantly. "Well, it's not unfixable. The carpet is nice and soft, I'm sure I can make a decent bed for myself there."

A teasing smirk appeared on Kaiba's face. "The floor? Really? Are you that uncomfortable sleeping in one bed with one of your friends?" He made sure to put a lot of emphasis on 'friends'.

Serenity blushed and instantly looked down. "I… think so. I've never even shared a room before, let alone a bed… And especially not with a man, so I suppose I am a little uncomfortable."

Kaiba slightly tilted his head to the right. Geez, this girl really was an open book. By far not as much fun to tease as her brother. "The floor's all yours, then," he said. "I'll call for an extra pillow and blanket."

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

He sighed. Thanking him for letting her sleep on the floor… Maybe he should have offered her the bed. Then again, she would never accept it anyway.

"I'll go unpack," Serenity announced, grabbing hold of her suitcase. "By the way, don't you need to call Kaiba Corporation to ask for the right set of blueprints?"

Kaiba blinked, the blueprints having completely slipped his mind due to the whole issue with the room.

Not wasting another second, he picked up the wireless phone from its holder on the desk and dialed the number of the head of Kaiba Corporation's Research and Development department, ready to give them hell.

Once he had gotten through, Serenity felt very sorry for the man on the other side of the line. Kaiba was positively boiling, using a few words that weren't for children's ears to catch. Serenity therefore focused on unpacking her suitcase, trying her hardest not to listen to Kaiba's booming voice.

While she was neatly placing her clothes in one halve of the large closet, Kaiba arranged for the correct set of blueprints to be e-mailed to him. Once that was taken care of, he made another call, this time to the lobby downstairs, to ask for the extra pieces of bedding he had promised Serenity. It wasn't a problem; one of the employees would be bringing the requested items to the room shortly.

Just as he replaced the phone, a loud growling sound reached his ears. Shaking his head in light amusement, he turned around to face Serenity. "Hungry, are we?"

Serenity smiled, a little embarrassed. "I suppose I am," she said, rubbing her stomach, which was still making some unpleasant noises. "I haven't eaten since breakfast this morning."

Grinning, Kaiba picked up the phone once again. "I'll order room service."

* * *

After sharing a nice meal, the two roommates both found their own spot in the small room. Kaiba installed himself at the wooden desk, his loyal laptop working overtime, while Serenity settled on the large bed (since there was no couch), curled underneath the covers, one of her thick novels in hand as she divided her time between reading and watching a marathon her favorite drama series on the large widescreen TV on the wall.

Both had decided not to go outside the room that evening; Kaiba because he wanted to get a head start on his work, and Serenity because she was too scared she'd get lost in the massive building without Kaiba around to guide her.

Serenity couldn't say she minded though; it had been a long time since she'd been able to watch whatever she wanted on a Friday night, since Joey usually took control of the remote after he'd gotten off work, and she now finally had the chance to read her novel without having to worry about other duties.

On the other side of the room, Kaiba's foul mood was slowly clearing up. Even though he hadn't been able to look over the latest blueprints in the car as he would have liked, he had now nearly caught up with his original schedule. He would still be in for at least a few more hours of working, but it seemed he'd actually be able to catch some sleep that night.

Luckily for him, his roommate was a very quiet individual. The television was on a minimum volume, and the only other sound he heard from her was the subtle rustling of paper whenever she turned a page. Serenity was almost exactly the opposite of Mokuba, who always had the television's volume high enough to shatter eardrums and was often loudly chatting with one of his many friends on the videophone in his office. It was a very welcome change.

Due to the relatively quiet environment, Kaiba had a good focus and could work very efficiently. Within about an hour or three, only a few minutes after midnight, he was able to finish everything he had planned for the day. That, given the delay he'd had, was quite the accomplishment, even for someone of his caliber.

Kaiba therefore had every reason to be satisfied with himself when he finally hit the 'enter' key for the last time that evening. After closing his laptop and putting it safely back into his silver briefcase, he stretched his body to rid it of the stiffness the wooden chair had given it. Ah well, it was nothing a good massage couldn't cure…

Yes, that would be his first priority the next day. Getting those annoying knots kneaded out of his back and shoulders would surely do him some good.

With that relaxing thought in mind, Kaiba stood and grabbed his suitcase, which was still packed, so he could get ready for the night. Dragging the heavy black suitcase along with him, he went into the bathroom to prepare himself.

After getting changed into his white silk pajamas, brushing his teeth and using the toilet, Kaiba emerged from the bathroom again, ready to get a good night of sleep.

However, he was in for an unpleasant surprise. As he walked towards the comfortable bed, he realized his roommate was still in it – and she was fast asleep.

She was in some sort of half-sitting half-laying position, the TV remote loosely in her hand, the novel resting on her lap. It appeared she had tried to wait for Kaiba to finish his work, but had simply been too tired to accomplish that.

Kaiba sighed, lightly annoyed. Great, now what was he supposed to do?

Personally, he wouldn't have a problem crawling in next to her; he had been in the same bed with Mokuba many times before. Given, she was a female, but since there was no romance involved it couldn't be that different from sharing a bed with his brother. However, Serenity had clearly indicated that she was uncomfortable sharing a bed with a man, no matter who he was or how little he seemed to feel for sexual intercourse. And Kaiba was to respect that, or so he thought. That was how friends were supposed to acts toward one another, was it not?

He could just wake her up and tell her to get on the floor. Before, he would've done so without a moment hesitation. But the way she looked, so innocent, having fallen asleep while waiting for him… It reminded him so much of his younger brother. Kaiba even had the urge to ruffle her hair, but he smartly decided against that.

So that only left one option: He was to sleep on the floor for the night. It wasn't very appealing, but it seemed as if it was the only decent thing he could do. With strong reluctance, he went to grab the extra pillow and blanket which had been delivered some hours ago so he could make himself a place to sleep on the carpeted floor.

After he had made his improvised bed, Kaiba took the remote from Serenity's limp hand and used it to turn off the television. Placing the remote on the closest nightstand, he also took the novel from her lap and laid it next to the remote. The last thing he wanted was to have that book hit him in the head if Serenity turned in her sleep.

Finally, Kaiba walked over to the window and shut the curtains, ridding the room of the vibrant moonlight which had illuminated it.

Luckily he had excellent night vision, and it didn't take him long to find his 'bed' for the night. Settling himself down on the carpet, he didn't even get the chance to think about his discomfort; his exhausted self was asleep mere seconds after his head had hit the pillow.

* * *

The next morning, Kaiba awoke to the subtle sound of running water. Not fully awake yet, he lifted himself up and headed for the curtains, expecting to find a grey sky behind a window tainted by raindrops. When he pulled open the thick curtains, he was greeted by rays of bright sunlight instead of the dullness he had expected. Groaning from the sudden light on his eyes, he backed away from the light and went to freshen himself up in the windowless darkness of the bathroom.

However, when he reached the bathroom door, he found that he was unable to open it. His sleepy brain slowly came to the understanding that it was locked. Ah, so that's where that sound was coming from. Serenity was in the shower.

Nodding to himself, Kaiba left the bathroom door alone and walked back into the main room. After he quickly gathered his pillow and blanket and put them away in the large closet, he went over to the wooden desk and sat himself down. Grabbing the wireless phone, he ordered breakfast to be delivered to the room. God, did he need a cup of coffee.

When the order had been placed, he took out his laptop for a quick check of his e-mail before breakfast arrived.

The knock on the door came just ten minutes later. There was nothing to complain about when it came to the service in this place… well, except for the fact the staff down at the reception tended to forget to write certain specific requests down.

He accepted and paid for the trolley filled with food. Since he had no clue what Serenity enjoyed for breakfast, he had ordered a small portion of basically everything. Oh, and one big portion of pancakes, since he could recall she had told him she enjoyed those when they were swapping personal information at the beginning of their 'relationship'.

Of course, what was most important to him was the large pot of coffee he so desperately craved. He immediately poured himself a cup, the aroma alone shaking his brain awake nearly at once. Damn, he was _so_ addicted.

It wasn't until five minutes later, when Kaiba had just poured himself his third cup of coffee, when he saw the lock on the bathroom door turn. Serenity stepped out, fresh and clean, wearing her familiar attire of a pair of denim shorts and a yellow t-shirt.

When she saw Kaiba standing besides the newly appeared trolley, she instantly hung her hand. "I'm so sorry," she said.

"For what?" She was lucky the coffee was so good.

"Falling asleep last night. I should've known. I should've gotten on the floor when I started to get drowsy. I'm sorry."

"Whatever," was his disinterested answer. "It's fine."

"It is?"

"Yes." He nodded towards the trolley. "Now come on, I ordered breakfast."

Serenity smiled and walked over to him. She could go for a big bowl of cereal.

Too bad cereal was about the only thing the trolley didn't contain. Otherwise, it was loaded with almost every breakfast food known to man, including waffles, toast, sausages, eggs (both scrambled and boiled), pancakes… Not to forget the drinks; orange juice, milk, tea, coffee…

"Are you eh… hungry?," she asked, staring at all the food. There was no way the two of them would be able to eat all of that.

"Not particularly," Kaiba answered before taking another sip of coffee. "More thirsty, actually." He held up his mug. "I figured I'd order breakfast along with it, but I wasn't sure what your preference for the morning is."

"Don't you have your 'sources' for that?," Serenity asked jokingly.

"I do, but haven't ordered them to look into your breakfast favorites, since I hadn't expected to share breakfast with you at all during our time of 'dating'".

"Aha…," Serenity nodded. "So you just ordered… everything from the room service menu?"

"About everything, yes. It is actually cheaper to order much at once than to have a waiter get up here twice for only a few items," he explained. "And no, my coffee could not wait," he quickly added when he saw her eyebrows rise.

Serenity shook her head in amusement as she took a plate of scrambled eggs from the trolley and sat herself down on the soft bed. "Whatever makes you happy," she said with a smile before starting on her eggs.

Kaiba drained his mug for the third time that morning, a thoughtful expression on his well crafted face. Whatever made him happy, huh? Not 'too much caffeine is bad for you' or 'you already get too little sleep as it is'. He looked over at Serenity, who was delicately eating her breakfast. He couldn't help but notice that her table manners were a lot better than her brothers. Actually, she differed from her brother entirely. Genes worked in strange ways.

Pouring the last of the coffee into his mug, he too took a plate from the trolley, which contained a few slices of buttered toast, and sat himself down next to Serenity on the bed. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, slightly surprised. Pleasantly surprised, though. He hadn't been this close to her since they had cuddled up together for the sake of their fake relationship. Somehow, it was good to know he was capable of sitting next to her without having to.

Her lips curled into a soft smile.

* * *

After breakfast, it was Kaiba's turn to use the bathroom. They had agreed they'd go get a nice massage together once he was finished. Serenity was rather excited; she'd never had a professional massage before, and she wondered what it would feel like.

She was already standing by the door when Kaiba emerged from the bathroom ten minutes later. "Ready?," she asked eagerly.

"Impatient?," Kaiba retorted as he walked over to her.

"Yes, very," she answered truthfully. "I've never had a massage before. I can't wait."

"Let's go, then," he offered as he pulled open the door. Serenity thanked him before slipping out the room, Kaiba close behind her. Side by the side, the two of them made their way over to the elevator.

They rode down to the second floor. Stepping out, Serenity wished she had about eight more eyes. There were doors everywhere, each carrying a label to show costumers what was behind them. Hot stone massage, Thai massage, Champissage massage, Balinese massage… There were so many. The corridors smelled deliciously of perfumed oils and incense.

"What massage are we getting?," Serenity asked Kaiba excitedly.

"You can see for yourself," Kaiba answered, gesturing at a random door. "I am getting a basic deep tissue massage. It's the most efficient and it's one of the few types of massaging where the masseuses don't try to push some nonsense about chakras on you."

So a deep tissue massage it was. There was no way Serenity was going to separate herself from Kaiba; with her poor sense of direction she was sure she would never find her way back to the elevator through this maze of corridors and doors. She sure hoped the other floors wouldn't be so confusing.

When they had reached the correct door, the two of them were temporarily separated by the gender bound dressing rooms. Seeing as it was still early, Serenity had the entire female dressing room to herself, though there were already two sets of clothing laying in a large cabinet which was divided in small squares. Serenity laid her own clothes in one of the squares herself once she had undressed. It felt strange, being naked in such a public place, so she quickly grabbed one of the large fluffy towels stacked in a reed basket near the door and wrapped it securely around her petit body. When she was sure everything was covered, she exited the dressing room.

Upon entering the large room in which the massages took place, Serenity was almost instantly greeted by one of the masseuses. The woman kindly directed her over to the massage tables. Kaiba was already there, laying comfortably on his stomach on one of the tables, a towel covering him from the waist down. Besides him, two women and one man were already being massaged.

The masseuse appointed Serenity the table next to Kaiba's, which Serenity gratefully accepted. She climbed onto it, careful not to expose any more skin than necessary. Slowly lowering herself, she laid herself down before pulling the towel away from underneath her, so that it was now covering her from her waist down like a fluffy little blanket.

"This is actually kind of comfortable," she said in surprise. "Aren't massage tables supposed to be hard?"

"Where'd you hear that?," Kaiba asked skeptically.

Serenity frowned in thought. "I'm not sure… A movie, probably." She tried to remember which one, but before she could, the masseuses arrived.

The friendly female masseuse who had just appointed Serenity to her table came to stand next to her, a bottle of massage oil in her hands, while Kaiba was greeted by his own masseuse; a tall and masculine man with extremely large hands. Serenity was instantly glad her masseuse didn't appear as if she'd be able to crush her in one movement.

The woman who would massage her smiled as she squirted a large amount of oil onto her hands and started to rub her hands together. "Is this your first deep tissue massage, dear?"

Serenity nodded. "It's my first massage overall," she admitted. "Will it hurt?"

The masseuse laughed lightly. "Oh no, dear, not at all. It will feel good. Though your body might be a little sore afterwards. See, a deep tissue massage reaches deep underneath your skin and a lot of your body's waste will come loose, which will be a little uncomfortable. But after a day or two you'll lose the waste and you'll feel better than ever, I assure you!"

"Okay then," Serenity smiled brightly, "I can handle that."

"So, you're ready? The oil's all warmed up," the masseuse said as she stopped rubbing her hands together to warm the massage oil.

"I'm ready."

"Then here goes." The masseuse laid her oiled hands on Serenity bare back and started working her magic.

It was the best feeling Serenity had ever experienced. With every movement the masseuse's hands made, she felt herself growing more and more relaxed, until she just laid her head to rest and closed her eyes in utter pleasure.

On the table next to her, Kaiba was also enjoying his massage. He really should do this more often… but then again, work was more important. He folded his arms in front of him and laid his head on them, his eyes facing his roommate on the table next to his.

It was easy to see she was loving it. Kaiba couldn't remember a time when she had seemed so relaxed; she always tensed up when she was around him, though he couldn't really blame her for that. He was a rather intimidating person. Though now that he thought of it, she hadn't been that tense lately. She didn't stutter anymore when she talked to him, nor did she say sorry as much, though she still apologized for tiny things far too often. And to be fair, he hadn't been his regular self around her either. He couldn't recall the last time he had yelled at her or insulted her. How peculiar. Maybe it really was friendship.

Kaiba watched the movements of the hands of Serenity's masseuse going up and down her slim body. From right next to her, he could see the side of one of her medium sized, well-shaped breasts. He'd never really paid attention to it before, but she was really a beautiful girl. Not like most women nowadays, who had to put a ton of make-up on their faces to at least look slightly presentable. Serenity almost never wore make-up, and when she did, it was very little, yet her face wasn't in the least hard to look at. Combined with her subtly-curved, slim body and her kind personality, Kaiba could definitely see why Taylor and Devlin were so interested in her.

However, neither of them were a good match for her in Kaiba's opinion. Devlin was too much of a playboy. He only wanted Serenity as a prize, a trophy on his shelve of one-night stands. And Taylor, the moron, was simply grasping for someone way out of his league.

Not that it was any of his concern; Kaiba couldn't care less about the people Serenity did or did not date. That was none of his business.

"I think that should do it, sir," said the man who had massaged him, pulling Kaiba out of his thoughts. "I'll just need to wash the remaining oil away and you're good to go."

"Good," Kaiba answered curtly as the masseuse rubbed his back and shoulders with a wet washcloth. When it was done, he sat up and wrapped his towel securely around his waist to hide his private parts.

Glancing over at Serenity, Kaiba noticed her massage wasn't finished yet, but he still turned and headed for the dressing rooms. He'd wait for her in the hallway.

* * *

The remainder of the weekend turned out to be very fun and productive for both the roommates.

Kaiba didn't come out of the room even once after the deep tissue massage. He stayed locked up in the tiny space, sitting behind the wooden desk, typing on his laptop, making phone calls and filling in the few papers he had brought with him. It was a very productive weekend for him, and he was glad he had been able to get away from Mokuba and his girlfriend. Horny pre-teens were not very good for ones concentration.

Serenity left Kaiba to his work while she spent most of her time outside. The three tranquility gardens were all extremely beautiful and calming, which was why she could easily roam around them for hours while the bright summer sun gave her a light tan. And when she needed to cool off, there was always the large outdoor pool. It was a wonderful place.

She occasionally returned to the room for meals, which she and Kaiba ordered through room service, since going to the dining room on the first floor would surely expose them to the public. The only time she and Kaiba were in the room together for more than an hour was in the evening, after most of the resort had closed, but even then there was little interaction. Kaiba had his work, and Serenity had her novels and the large television. However, she was now very careful not to fall asleep in the bed again. It was the perfect weekend for the both of them.

On Sunday evening, the last evening they would be staying in the resort, Kaiba was yet again alone in the room, sitting behind the wooden desk, his fingers flowing over the keys of the laptop in front of him. He was going over the last of his recent business deals, which would also be the final work he'd planned to do while at the resort.

It didn't take him too long to plow through the final deals he had made, searching them for imperfections and possible improvements. He had looked all of them thoroughly over. All of them, except for one: his 'relationship'-deal with Serenity Wheeler.

"I'm back!"

Serenity walked into the room with a towel around her neck, her long hair still damp from her swim in the pool. She smiled at Kaiba. "Still not done?," she asked as she sat herself down on the bed.

"Almost," Kaiba commented, getting up from the wooden chair. "There is only one thing left, and I need to discuss it with you."

"With me?" Serenity was surprised; what aspect of his work could Kaiba possibly want to discuss with her?

"Yes," Kaiba said as he sat down beside her on the bed. "I've been going over my latest business deals, and technically, this 'relationship' of ours is a business deal," he explained. "Now, I've looked over our performances for the last two months, and I can't find anything that needs to be altered or improved. However, since you are my partner when it comes to this deal, I need to know if you believe there are faults in our setup."

"Oh, I see," she smiled. It was like a performance review. "Well, I don't think there's anything wrong the way we're doing things now," she said as she thought about it. Then she laughed. "Well, except for maybe our kissing technique. That was quite horrible. I'm surprised Mai didn't call us on that one."

"True," Kaiba agreed. "If someone were to notice our discomfort concerning kissing, it would surely make them suspicious. However, not sharing kisses at all will make them equally suspicious."

"I'm sure everyone will understand that we're uncomfortable kissing in front of them," Serenity said. "Neither of us are that outgoing in the first place."

"Yes, but with your sister-in-law and my younger brother, I don't think withholding is an option for very long," Kaiba mused, more to himself than to Serenity. Damn, this was an actual problem. How could he not have seen it before?

"Well, maybe we should practice," Serenity joked. As if Kaiba would ever agree to that.

"Good plan." Kaiba couldn't say he was all too excited to stick his tongue in her mouth again, but if they both practiced their skills, their next kiss in front of other wouldn't be so uncomfortable and would therefore seem much more natural to their public.

"Y-you're serious?," Serenity stuttered, her cheeks burning.

"Practice makes perfect," Kaiba shrugged. "Besides, it's purely business."

"Right." She nodded, trying to calm herself down. "So… where do we start?"

"I think an analysis of the previous kiss would be good," Kaiba suggested. "On which points do I need to improve?"

Wow, he really was serious. "Well, eh, you kind of stuck your tongue a bit too far in my mouth," she remembered, "and you just… kept it completely still. A little movement would be better. And you tasted very much like coffee, but I can't really blame you for that."

"Noted."

"So… Anything I need to work on?"

Kaiba didn't have to think very long. "Open your mouth further. Your teeth were in the way. You should squirm less. And I can't say the taste of tea pleased me that much either."

"Okay," Serenity said, memorizing the information. "So... what do we do about it?"

"I propose breath mints for us both," Kaiba started, gesturing towards the jar of peppermint each room had on the left nightstand, "and then we practice."

Serenity nodded in agreement and both of them stood up and took a peppermint out of the jar on the nightstand. A rather awkward silence fell between the two as they sucked on the mints, trying their best to avoid any eye contact. Yup, this was definitely going to be a very… peculiar experience.

"So… how do we begin?," Serenity asked awkwardly when she'd finished her peppermint.

Kaiba shrugged. "I suppose like last time… but improved, of course." Serenity could tell he wasn't too experienced when it came to this sort of thing, and she was actually very glad for it. At least she wasn't the only one.

Well, here goes nothing. The two of them hesitantly wrapped their arms around each other; his around her waist, hers around his neck, assuming the same position they had the previous time they kissed. Serenity got up on her tiptoes, stretching up as far as she could, while Kaiba leaned down in order to reach her. A few seconds passed with them standing there, before they simultaneously decided they'd had to get it over with.

Their lips crushed together for the second time in their lives.

It was… slightly better. Not much, though. The only real improvements were the peppermints, which had mostly exterminated the undesirable flavors. The advice of the other in mind, both of them tried to fix their flaws… and failed miserable. Serenity, the advice of further opening her mouth in mind, opened up so much it would seem as if she were at a dentist appointment, while Kaiba, who knew he shouldn't keep his tongue still, started to twist it like some sort of propeller, which caused high discomfort for his partner.

When they pulled back, the conclusion was obvious. "That wasn't much better."

After going over the new flaws, they tried again. And again. And again. Each try resulted in utter frustration from both parties.

"Stop squirming!"

"That was my nose!"

"You bit my tongue!"

"Don't stick it in that far!"

"You bit my tongue again!"

After the seventh try, they really were sick of it. "This is hopeless," Serenity sighed, plopping back down on the bed. "We just can't kiss."

"Agreed," Kaiba grunted, sitting himself down next to her. "Then again, that last time was a little better than the others. Neither of us gagged."

"Or bled," Serenity added. "Does that still hurt? I'm sorry I bit you. Twice."

"I'll live," he said sarcastically. "How's your nose? Will it bruise?"

She touched the spot on her nose where Kaiba jaw had hit her. "Meh, I don't think so. It wasn't that hard a blow."

Kaiba nodded, and another rather awkward silence fell. This was absurd. There had to be some way they could improve when it came to kissing, hadn't there?

"Maybe it'll work better if we sit down," Kaiba mused, patting the bed they were stationed on. "I can hardly bump your nose when I'm not towering above you."

"That might work," Serenity agreed. "One more try?"

"One more try."

They scooted closer to one another and gave it another go.

It was… good. Very good, actually. Maybe it was because they weren't trying too hard anymore, but suddenly, they seemed to have caught the rhythm. No bumping, no biting, no squirming… Their tongues moved at an equal pace, dancing around each other in a steady beat. Both their eyes slowly closed as they experienced something incredible – their first acceptable kiss.

Pulling back, both were a little out of breath. So, it hadn't been a 'fireworks, hallelujah' kiss, but it was pretty damn amazing for two people who had no experience in kissing and didn't harbor any feelings beyond friendship for each other.

"Well… that worked," Kaiba said after a while, obviously pleased with the outcome. "I'd say business deal approved."

"So, you're work's done for now?"

"Pretty much."

Serenity picked up the remote for the television. "Want to watch 'House' with me?"

Kaiba smirked. "Sure, why not?"

* * *

_Chapter nine is finished. Woow. As I've said in my author's note on top of this page, this is a very, very important chapter. Every scene in this chapter will help the relationship between Seto and Serenity. The scene where she fell asleep in the bed shows that Kaiba is indeed starting to care for her (though he'll never admit it). The breakfast scene I designed mostly to have Kaiba realize that Serenity is nothing like her brother. The massage scene revolved around physical attraction - I established Serenity's physical attraction for Kaiba a few chapters earlier, but I needed Kaiba to have a little physical attraction towards Serenity as well, because it's hard to build a relationship without it. And the last scene... I think that speaks for itself. Bad kissing is a no-no in a relationship, so that had to be fixed. Though I have to admit, I also did it for fun - most fun scene I've ever written, hands down. So, from here on I can really start working on the romance between these two. Please stay tuned for chapter ten, which I hope will be up before my summer holidays end. And if you have the time, please feel free to leave me a review. They are always appreciated. Until next time!_


	10. Birthday Boy

**Random Stranger**

**_Summary: _**_In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. Silentshipping._

**_Disclaimer: _**_I am the proud owner of nothing. That includes Yu-Gi-Oh!_

**_Author's note:_**_ Doubble numbers, baby! Gosh, I can't believe I'm finally about to post the tenth chapter of this story. I've been working on this thing since February 2010. It's a very long time for me to spend on one story, but it has definitely been worth it. 'Random Stranger' is my pride and joy and I'm very happy I started writing it. However, I'm still not done by a long shot. I think this story will be around seventeen chapters long, so I've still got a long way to go. Anyway, this chapter's title kind of gives it away: birthday goodness! Because lovebirds should always remember each other's birthdays ;). I wrote most of this at night while watching the US Open Tennis Tournament. Ugh, I hate the time difference between America and the Netherlands. I stayed up until three thirty last night because I wanted to see Tsonga vs. Verdasco. I'm a huge fan of Tsonga. He rocks. Also, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter, and a special thank you to _**P.O.J.A**_ for pointing out my over-use of brackets. I brought the number of brackets back from somewhere around twenty to just two, and I think the chapter is better off for it. So thank you for your awesome advice, P.O.J.A! With that said, please enjoy the tenth chapter of Random Stranger!_

* * *

_**Chapter 10: Birthday Boy**_

* * *

The week after she returned from her luxurious trip to the resort, the summer holidays ended, and Serenity had to go back to High School for her final year.

She was very eager to get her diploma and go on to college to study art, like she'd always wanted to. Therefore, she started her Senior Year with great enthusiasm, finishing most of her homework in class and excessively learning for every test. It was because of her hard work that she had gotten nothing but straight A's when the Fall Term Break started in mid-October.

Besides a few mandatory 'how are you' phone calls to keep up the appearance, Serenity hadn't spoken to Kaiba since he'd dropped her off at home after their weekend at the resort. It wasn't that odd, really, since both of them had been keeping busy, which was why it luckily hadn't raised any suspicion among their loved ones.

When Serenity opened her journal one Friday in October to see which homework she would have to finish that weekend, she noticed something odd; a red circle around the upcoming Sunday, October 25th. She always circled important dates with red marker to make sure she would notice them. It was rather peculiar, since she had no idea why she had marked that date. What was so important this Sunday?

And then it struck her. October 25th was Kaiba's birthday.

She could've given herself a kick in the ass if that had been physically possible. How could she forget his birthday? Some friend she was.

Well, she'd discovered it on time. She'd just go to the mall the next day to buy him a present and then stop by the Kaiba Mansion on Sunday to wish him a happy birthday. It was the least she could do, both as a fake girlfriend and as a real friend.

Still, there was one more problem. What present does a girl with about fifty dollars in her bank account buy for a multi-billionaire?

She pondered on it for a while, but failed to come up with anything beyond a homemade birthday cake. It was stupid really; she could easily come up with an idea for a gift for any one of her other friends, but Kaiba was a whole other story. The only thing she knew for sure he liked was Duel Monsters, but unless she would steal The Winged Dragon Of Ra from Yugi, she could never offer him a card that was decent enough to be in his ridiculously powerful deck.

She definitely needed a little help with this. Serenity flipped through the pages of her journal until she found the list of phone numbers from all her friends. Looking over them, she stopped at the letter 'M', where she found the one she was looking for. Mokuba would surely be able to tell her what she could buy for his brother's birthday.

She picked up the phone Joey had left on the coffee table and dialed the number of Mokuba's mobile phone.

"Mokuba Kaiba speaking," the pre-teen said in a business-like tone when he answered the phone. He sounded almost exactly like his older brother.

"Hey Mokuba, it's Serenity."

She heard him laugh on the other end. "You do know you've got the wrong Kaiba, right?"

Serenity smiled. "No, I've got exactly the right one in this case."

"Really? Then how may I help you?"

"Well, it's your brother's birthday this Sunday…," she started.

"Oh, I see," she heard Mokuba say on the other end, "and you don't know what to get him."

"I have no clue," she sighed.

"Yeah, I've been there," Mokuba sympathized with her. "I just bake him a cake every year, along with a game or a book of some sort. I got him Monopoly this year."

So, a homemade birthday cake hadn't been such a stupid idea after all. And she could imagine Kaiba enjoying a new game or book every once in a while. Maybe she could find a suitable gift for her newest friend in that cozy little bookshop at the edge of the mall.

"Still," Mokuba continued, pulling her back into the conversation, "Seto doesn't care about birthdays much anyway, so you don't have to go through too much trouble. I mean, he's never even had a party."

"Never?"

"Well, when we were younger our parents did organize parties for his birthday, but that stopped when they died. I think the last one was when he turned ten."

Serenity felt slightly sad for Kaiba. She had learned from her experiences in Noah's Virtual World that Seto Kaiba hadn't been a Kaiba his entire life, and that he once did have parents who cared for him before he was dumped in an orphanage with his brother, only to be adopted by a cold businessman. She never thought his stepfather had been cruel enough to deny him a party on his birthday.

Suddenly, Serenity had an epiphany. "What if we throw him a surprise party?"

"A surprise party?" Mokuba sounded hesitant. "I don't know… Seto doesn't really like surprises. Or parties, for that matter."

Serenity was not convinced. "I think it'll be great. You can make the cake, and we could get some decorations for the living room. I can invite everyone to come, and I'm sure I'll be able to find him a nice gift at that bookstore at the far end of the mall."

Mokuba was silent for a minute. "It does sound like a great idea… You know what, I'm in!"

She was delighted. "Wonderful!"

"We'll need a plan, though," Mokuba added. "Seto had a nose for trouble."

* * *

Serenity remained on the phone with the younger Kaiba brother for another hour to figure out exactly how they were going to surprise Seto Kaiba.

Kaiba always stayed home from work on his birthday. Not because he, like normal people, took a day off to celebrate. No, he just wanted to work at home instead of at the office, for he hated it when his employees randomly shook his hand and wished him a happy birthday in the middle of the hallway.

They had arranged for Roland to warn Kaiba of a major crisis in the Finance department somewhere in the late afternoon, requesting his presence immediately. The head of Finance was, of course, aware of their scheme and had promised to keep Kaiba occupied as long as possible. And if that wouldn't keep him long enough, Roland would make sure Kaiba's car was unusable. Not unfixable, but just damaged enough to ensure at least the delay of having another car summoned to the building.

Still, there was quite a lot to do. Mokuba had agreed to get the decorations, cake ingredients and other things for the party, while Serenity would call around their circle of friends to invite them, as well as pick out a present for Kaiba at the bookstore.

On Sunday Serenity would wait for Mokuba to call her after Kaiba had left before coming over to the Kaiba Mansion. There, she would help Fong decorate the living room, while Mokuba and Alfonse went into the kitchen to make the birthday cake. After that, it would only be a matter of setting up the foods and drinks, wait for the guests to arrive and find a proper place to hide.

Serenity had decided she would go get Kaiba's present the day after, on Saturday, but she wanted to call and invite her friends immediately today. After all, the party was only two days away, and she'd be lucky if none of her friends had made plans already.

She took the phone in her hands again and started to call around. Most of her friends turned out easy to persuade. Yugi, Tea, Mai and Bakura were all very enthusiastic, agreeing to come the moment she mentioned it was for Kaiba's birthday. Tristan was a little less thrilled, but said yes anyway because he wanted to make Serenity happy. Duke was even more reluctant than Tristan, and it took Serenity quite some pleaded to convince him to come.

When she hung up on Duke, she sighed in relief. She'd actually gotten everyone to come to Kaiba's surprise party. Well, everyone except for the toughest costomer that is.

"Sis! I'm home!"

Oh, yes. Getting Joseph Wheeler to attend a party organized for the man he despised most would be no cakewalk.

"Hello, Joey," Serenity greeted her brother innocently when he entered the living room. "How was work?"

"Torture," Joey grunted in reply as he flopped down besides her on the couch. "But hey, what else is new?"

Serenity gave him half a smile. He had just reminded her she too would have to go back to her job three nights a week once Monday rolled around the corner. Oh, how she despised that clothing store…

However, that was Monday. First, she had Sunday to worry about. "Say Joey, do you have any plans for this Sunday?"

"Besides sleeping? Nah, not really. Why?"

"Well… I'm throwing a party," she started, carefully avoiding the fact that she would be giving said party for his sworn nemesis, "and I would like you to be there."

"A party?," Joey asked, surprised. "This Sunday? Why's that?"

Serenity bit her lip. "It's Seto's birthday."

"Kaiba's birthday is this Sunday?"

She nodded. "Yes. I know you don't like him, but Mokuba and I have organized a surprise party for him at the Kaiba Mansion, and everyone else has already agreed to come, so I –"

"Okay."

"What?"

"Okay, I'll come."

"Just like that?" Serenity was stunned.

Joey smiled. "Well, everyone else is going to be there, and since you've already planned the whole thing anyway I can hardly say no. After all, it's important to you."

She nearly jumped her older brother, throwing her arms around him to give him a massive hug. "Oh, thank you Joey! I really do appreciate that."

Joey grinned as he hugged his little sister back. "That's what I'm your brother for, sis."

"This is going to be a great party," Serenity smiled.

* * *

Serenity whistled happily as she stepped into the bus that would take her to the other side of Domino City. Today was Sunday, October 25th, and she was on her way to the Kaiba Mansion to set things up for Kaiba's surprise party. In her hands she held a rectangular object, carefully wrapped in blue wrapping paper with a bright red bow tied around it. It was the present she had picked out for Kaiba.

After paying the chauffeur the five dollars his service was worth and receiving her ticket, she sat herself down on a seat by the window at the back of the almost empty bus, the present placed neatly in her lap. She held on to it tightly when the bus began to move, making sure the bumpy ride wouldn't damage it in any way.

She had received a call from Mokuba only minutes ago, telling her that Roland had successfully removed the older Kaiba from the mansion. If all went as planned, Kaiba should be out for at least two hours, giving them plenty of time to set everything up. She just hoped her hardest it would work.

The bus ride took fourty minutes. Serenity got out on one of the last stops, along with a young boy and an overweight woman. She could already see the Kaiba Mansion in the distance, the majestic building towering above all other houses easily.

She arrived at Kaiba's home only five minutes later, when she had made her way through the crowded streets of the richer part of Domino City. Fong, Kaiba's butler, was already waiting for her when she reached the large gates.

"Good day, miss Wheeler, nice to see you again," he greeted politely when he had led her onto the property.

"Nice to see you too, Fong," she smiled at the older gentleman. "Is everything set?"

"Everything has arrived," Fong nodded as he led Serenity along the long path towards the mansion. "Mister Mokuba and Alfonse have already started preparing the cake. They want to try a three-layer chocolate cake with an edible sculpture of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon on top."

He seemed rather hesitant about the outcome of the cake, and Serenity couldn't really blame him. Somehow she reckoned Mokuba would be a nuisance more than he was a help in the kitchen. Already she felt sorry for both the chef and whoever had to clean the place once the cake was finished.

Serenity and Fong entered the Kaiba Mansion. It was as large as ever, and Serenity was glad Fong was with her. The old man seemed to know the entire mansion by heart, and had therefore no problem leading Serenity towards the living room.

The living room was just as it had been the last time Serenity had visited, only now the coffee table in the middle of the room was filled with all kinds of party decorations. There were balloons that said 'Happy Birthday', multiple strings of colored flags, a large banner which appeared to be hand-made by Mokuba himself saying 'Happy Birthday Seto!" and a bunch of garlands which were shaped to resemble tiny Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Along with the decorations came a roll of clear tape, a stepladder and a compact machine to blow air into the balloons.

"Wow, Mokuba really outdid himself," Serenity said, impressed, as she put down her present and picked up one of the garlands. "These are amazing."

"Yes, mister Mokuba has been very excited about this party," Fong nodded contently. "To be honest, so am I. Mister Kaiba has never had a birthday party before."

Serenity smiled. "Let's get decorating, then."

And they did. They started with the hand-made banner, since it was the only decoration large enough to require them both at the same time. It was quite the task, but eventually they secured it to the largest wall, making it an eye-catcher for anyone who entered the room. Once they had gotten the banner in place, Fong went to blow up the many balloons Mokuba had purchased, while Serenity took the job of hanging up the flags and garlands.

They were just about done when the sound of the doorbell caused Fong to abandon his work. The caterers were there to serve the snacks and drinks for the party, and the butler had to escort them through the backdoor into the kitchen, leaving Serenity by herself for a while.

She didn't mind, though. It was actually a lot more pleasant to work without the rumbling sound of that machine in the background. She climbed up the stepladder for about the twentieth time and fastened the second end of the final Blue-Eyes White Dragon garland to the ceiling by tying it to a string of flags she had already put up and strengthening the hold with a few pieces of the clear tape. She stepped down the ladder and turned around to fetch one of the last strings of flags from the coffee table. However, there was something, or rather someone, blocking her way, and it was the last person she wanted to see at that moment.

It was Seto Kaiba, towering tall and proud above her. His arms were crossed, his blue eyes narrowed furiously. Behind him, Roland stood apologetically, mouthing "I'm sorry" to Serenity for not being able to stall his boss any longer.

"What is this?," Kaiba asked, utter venom in his voice.

"It's a… surprise party," Serenity said nervously. "Eh… surprise?"

Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Don't yell at her, don't yell at her, don't yell at her…

"Seto!," a startled voice pulled Kaiba's attention away from Serenity. Mokuba had just entered the living room, his hair white from the flour and his apron splattered with different kinds of goo. "You're not supposed to be here!"

"Yes, I had noticed that," Kaiba growled at his younger brother, who cowered under his brother's icy gaze. "You might want to come up with a better excuse to get me out the next time. And you'd do good to remember that I always have a spare car at Kaiba Corporation."

Mokuba could hit himself. Of course his brother would have an extra car at Kaiba Corporation's main building in case of an emergency. He should have known.

"Also," Kaiba continued ruthlessly, "I thought you would know by know that I hate parties. And surprises."

Mokuba sighed. "Yes, Seto, I'm sorry." And the boy went back into the kitchen, a sad look on his face and his shoulders slumped.

"Actually, you shouldn't be mad at him," Serenity told Kaiba in Mokuba's defense. "It was all my idea. He told me you didn't like parties, but I persuaded him into helping me. If you want to yell at someone, you should yell at me."

Luckily for her, he didn't get the chance to, for Fong came back into the living room that moment. "The food is all here, the caterer just le–" He then noticed Kaiba. "Mister Kaiba. I wasn't expecting you back so soon, sir."

Kaiba turned towards his butler. "Caterer, huh? Roland, go after that caterer and tell him to take everything back. Fong, clean up this mess," he ordered, gesturing towards all the garlands and balloons. He then turned and walked towards the door. "I have work to do."

Roland immediately left for the kitchen, but Fong did not agree. "But sir," he dared to protest, "you can't just call everything off. What about your guests?"

Kaiba froze in mid-step. "Guests?"

Serenity mentally cursed the butler for bringing up the others. "Well, it wouldn't be a party with just you, me, Mokuba and your staff," she explained carefully, "so I invited Yugi, Joey and everyone else as well."

Kaiba turned around. "You have got to be kidding me."

The doorbell rang again. Fong immediately fled to room to answer it, glad to be away from the wrath of his boss. Serenity, left alone with Kaiba, forced herself to smile. "That'll be them."

Kaiba sighed in defeat. He could hardly call off this pathetic party now; it would surely raise suspicion amongst the dweebs if he simply discarded such a thoughtful act from his supposed girlfriend. He would just have to bite his tongue and pretend to enjoy the party, no matter how torturous it would be.

"Fine," he growled angrily, "we'll have the damn party."

Serenity smiled apologetically at him. "Thank you. And I'm sorry. I won't throw you a surprise party again." She then quickly disappeared through a door she assumed would lead her to the kitchen, both to tell Mokuba the party was still on and to get the hell away from a still less than happy Kaiba.

It wasn't long after Serenity had disappeared when Fong returned with the party's guests. They were all chatting and laughing loudly, but that came to an instant halt when they saw Kaiba standing in the middle of the room.

"Kaiba!," Tea exclaimed in shock.

"Surprise," he said sarcastically.

"Aw, that was supposed to be our line," Bakura said, disappointed.

"Yeah Kaiba, you're kind of ruining your surprise party by being here," Tristan agreed.

"Stop it, guys, it's not like he came back early deliberately," Yugi reasoned. "I think Serenity and Mokuba's scheme just didn't play out the way it was supposed to."

You could say that again. The threat of a crisis in his Finance department had forced Kaiba to leave the mansion, but the moment as he faced the head of Finance, he knew his employee was lying to him. The slightly overweight man was red and sweaty, and he constantly pulled his tie when he was talking to his boss. It was enough to make Kaiba head back home straight away. The 'broken' car had been no setback at all, for he always had an extra parked in Kaiba Corporation's garage just in case. It was just too bad he hadn't been home early enough to stop this whole pathetic charade.

Serenity soon slipped back into the living room, holding the door open for someone who was about to come after her. Judging by the doubtful look on her face, Kaiba knew this couldn't be good news.

Mokuba and Alfonse walked through the opened door, carrying the massive cake they had prepared. The desert was a true giant; it was bright blue, three layers tall and had a figure sculpted out of modeling chocolate on the top. By the looks of it, the thing on top was supposed to resemble a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but it seemed more like an oversized blue chicken.

Alfonse appeared to be rather ashamed of his and Mokuba's creation, and he was therefore quick to leave once the cake had been safely set down on the table.

Mokuba, however, stood by the cake with pride. "Ta-da!," he exclaimed as he pointed at the cake. Everyone clapped for him, though the applause was more out of politeness than actual recognition. All of the guests just thought one thing: 'I hope it tastes better than it looks'.

"Well, how do you like your cake, Seto?," Mokuba asked eagerly. Everyone turned to Kaiba, who was looked at the big blue monstrosity with a look on his face that was somewhere between horror and disgust.

"It is…," Kaiba started, trying to find the right words. In all honesty, he found the thing to be a disgrace to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but he held his opinion for his younger brother's sake. "It's wonderful."

Mokuba smiled brightly and handed his older brother the knife to cut the cake. Carefully avoiding the monster on top, Kaiba cut out eleven pieces of cake; one for every person in the room, including his aged butler. For a few minutes everyone was silent, finding a proper spot to sit before munching away on the chocolate cake, which did indeed taste better than it looked. Kaiba silently thanked Alfonse for at least being able to prevent Mokuba from throwing salt into the cake batter.

Once everyone had devoured their first piece of cake, Mokuba announced it was time for gifts.

Kaiba wondered what gifts he would be receiving that evening. He knew it must have been difficult for them to find a suitable present for someone like himself. After all, he was the second richest man on the planet, and he already had everything he could possibly want. He was curious to see what they had all come up with.

His first gift came from his little brother. Mokuba had given him Monopoly, thinking it was a game the older Kaiba would enjoy. Kaiba had never played it before, but as a businessman he was sure to become an expert at the board game in no time.

Serenity was up next. When Kaiba took the neatly wrapped present from her, he could instantly see by the shape of the package that she had gotten him a book. Kaiba desperately hoped it wasn't a romance novel of some sort.

Luckily for him, it wasn't. Instead, Serenity had given him the final original philosophical novel written by Friedrich Nietzsche: _Ecce homo: Wie man wird, was man ist_ in its original German language. Kaiba had to give her credit for her excellent taste, for Nietzsche was one of his favorite philosophers. He owned every single book the German had ever written, including the one he had just received. He decided not to tell Serenity that, however. Even though he already owned a copy of the book she had just handed him, he was still pleasantly surprised she had been able to select a book he actually enjoyed reading.

"Have I ever told you who my favorite philosopher is?," he asked her, wondering if he had told her about his preferences concerning complex philosophy before.

Serenity shook her head. "No, I don't think you have." She found his question to be a little nerve wrecking. Had she chosen the wrong present for him? The book had caught her eye when she had been roaming through the bookshop and she had thought that Kaiba would very much agree with many of Nietzsche's theories.

Kaiba grinned as he stroked the book's hardcover. "It's Friedrich Nietzsche."

Serenity smiled, her worries about the present gone instantly. She had gotten it right. Maybe she was learning how to read this peculiar man after all.

"Philosophy? Geez, Kaiba, your hobbies are really exciting, aren't they?," Duke commented, earning a supporting nod from both Joey and Tristan.

Kaiba raised his eyebrows at the three, and was about to send a sneer back when Yugi stepped in between them, a small package in his hands. "Come on now, no fighting on your birthday," he told Kaiba. Yugi then handed him the package, a smile on his face. "This is from me, Joey, Bakura, Tristan and Duke."

Kaiba took the tiny present from Yugi's hands. He knew it had to be a Duel Monsters card; nothing else was that small and required a reasonable sum of money from five different men to pay for.

He opened the package and let the card slide into his hand. It was a rare Spell Card, called 'United We Stand'. Kaiba smirked upon seeing it. "Do you really think it's smart to give me such a powerful card?"

"No," Joey admitted with a scowl on his face, having never been able to defeat the brunet at Duel Monsters even without that card in Kaiba's deck, "but we couldn't come up with anything else."

Yugi nodded. "It is rather hard to think of a present for you, Kaiba. But we figured we could never go wrong with Duel Monsters."

"Well, you got that right," Kaiba agreed as he took his ever-present deck out of the pocket of his shirt and placed his newest card on top of it. "I'll be sure to use this to beat you the next time we duel, Yugi."

Yugi grinned. "We'll see, Kaiba. We'll see."

Kaiba returned his deck to his pocket. Then Mai and Tea stepped forward, the latter holding the last present of the evening. It was bright pink gift bag, which Kaiba took rather hesitantly, wondering if he even wanted to know what the two women had picked out for him.

Tea was smiling innocently, but Mai had a rather evil grin on her face. Kaiba eyed her suspiciously. "What is this?"

"You'll just have to open it and see for yourself," Mai answered him sweetly.

Kaiba took her advice, pulling the pink bag open and retrieving the items inside of it. The items he found were even more disturbing then he had imagined.

First there was a bra. It was colored soft baby blue, with a delicate lace pattern going around the sides and a dark blue bow at the center. A pair of matching panties followed. They were also light blue and decorated with lace and a bow. Finally, Kaiba pulled out a pair of knee-long ballet boots. Also blue, the boots had heels high enough to snap an ankle in half within seconds.

Kaiba's face was emotionless as he studied the items with mild interest. What on earth was this supposed to be?

"Thank you," he eventually said, sarcasm evident in his voice, "but I don't think these are my size." The other men in the room chuckled softly.

"That's not for you," Tea said as if that was supposed to be obvious. "It's for Serenity to wear. You know, for in the bedroom."

"What?," Serenity squealed in embarrassment, her face turning bright red as she eyed the lingerie on Kaiba's lap. Were they really expecting her to wear that?

Joey blew a fuse at Mai and Tea for coming up with such an outfit for his innocent little sister; both Yugi and Bakura were needed to keep the blonde from chasing the two women around the entire mansion. Tristan and Duke were staring dreamily into space, most likely picturing Serenity in the skimpy blue outfit. Kaiba smirked at the scene before him. This was definitely the best gift of the evening, if only just because of Joey's outburst and the incredibly embarrassed look on Serenity's face.

"I think they would fit, don't you?," he asked Serenity teasingly as he held up the panties.

The blush on her cheeks darkened even more as she looked at him with a rather desperate look in her eyes. "You're not going to make me wear that, are you?"

Kaiba laughed, but also shook his head. "Even I am not that evil," he reassured her. "You'd break your legs in those boots."

Serenity sighed in relief. Even though she wouldn't have put the set of lingerie on even if he had insisted upon it, it was good to know Kaiba wouldn't try to make her do something she was obviously uncomfortable with.

A roar from her older brother then caught her attention, and he quickly went to calm Joey down, which she eventually succeeded in by giving him another piece of cake. The lingerie was placed back into the bag and was taken away by Fong, never to be seen again.

The remainder of the party went relatively well. Joey challenged Kaiba to a game of Monopoly, in which Joey spectacularly lost all his money to Kaiba after barely fifteen minutes. Not much later, Kaiba and Yugi disappeared to the Dueling Arena Kaiba had installed in the basement to take 'United We Stand' for a little test drive. Kaiba won, but he had a feeling Yugi had simply gone easy on him because it was his birthday.

Even though Roland had sent the caterers home when Kaiba had ordered him to, none of the guests went hungry. Alfonse, who wanted to restore his reputation as a chef after the awful looking cake, prepared the most delicious snacks, and a few bottles of liquor from Kaiba's personal stock were sacrificed in order to keep the guests from dehydrating.

It was well after midnight when the party finally came to a close. Joey and Tristan were both very drunk, having challenged one another to see who could hold the most booze, and the others knew they would have to get the two goofballs home before they went and did something even more stupid than usual.

Kaiba couldn't say he was sad to see them go. Though he had to admit the party hadn't been as horrible as he had initially expected it to be, he still would've preferred to spend the evening in his home office to work on his latest invention. He had wasted a lot of hours with this surprise party, and with the current competition he could hardly afford to lose any time at all.

Now all that was left was ridding the mansion of the mess the party had made. Serenity had agreed to stay behind to help Kaiba take down the decorations in the living room, since the whole party had been her idea, while Mokuba, Fong and Alfonse were cursed with the burden of cleaning the mess in the kitchen.

When the three unfortunate souls had disappeared into the kitchen, Serenity took the stepladder again and began removing the garlands and flags, while Kaiba took the liberty of poking through all the balloons with a safety pin. He found it to be a very relaxing task.

Soon everything was down, and only the large banner remained, which the two of them tore off the wall together. As they folded it, Serenity silently wondered if it would ever be seen again. Kaiba really did hate parties.

"I'm sorry about the party," she apologized to Kaiba as they gathered the decorations in their arms. "I shouldn't have ignored Mokuba's advice. I hope I haven't ruined your birthday."

Kaiba sighed. Though he mourned the loss of precious time, he found he couldn't bring himself to get mad at the younger Wheeler. After all, she hadn't meant any harm. "It's fine," he grunted at her.

She was surprised by his easy dismissal, but smiled nonetheless.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't want this to be repeated ever again," Kaiba stated firmly, "but this whole thing wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be, and you did mean well."

"I won't do it again, I promise."

"You better not," Kaiba threatened, "or else I might just make you wear those ballet boots after all."

Serenity felt her blush returning. "You wouldn't," she said softly. "You said it yourself, you're not that evil."

Kaiba chuckled as he threw a handful of the flattened balloons into a trashcan. "Using my own words against me, huh? Clever."

She smiled at his compliment. "Well, it is true."

Kaiba shook his head in amusement. "So, what do you want for your birthday next month? And don't say 'a surprise party', because that's not happening."

"If I asked you to throw me a surprise party it wouldn't be a surprise anymore," Serenity stated wisely. "But you don't have to do anything for my birthday. My mother is coming over from Tokyo, and she always says birthdays are for families. That's why she always takes me and Joey out to do something with her. Even Mai isn't allowed to come."

Kaiba couldn't help but notice the sad look in her eyes when she mentioned the absence of Mai. Was she really that meek, letting her mother tell her how she had to spend her birthday? "It's your birthday you know," he voiced his opinion. "And you're turning eighteen. Your mother can't tell you what to do anymore once you're legally an adult."

"I know," Serenity sighed, "but my mother means well. She feels guilty that I had to spend a lot of birthdays without Joey when I was younger, so this is her way of making it up to me. Besides, it's better if Mai doesn't come. My mother doesn't like her very much. She says Joey can do better."

"And I thought I had a dramatic family," Kaiba snorted. He couldn't understand why mother Mutt wouldn't approve of Mai as her son's partner. For as far as he could see, the blonde woman was the one thing that kept Wheeler from turning into a caveman altogether.

Serenity smiled. "You do," she agreed, remembering the things she had learned about his past in Noah's Virtual World. "You're just not the only one."

Kaiba chuckled. "Alright, so no parties for your birthday. How about a present, then?"

"Oh, no," Serenity quickly declined, "you don't have to get me a present. I still owe you for that beautiful dress you sent me."

Kaiba did not agree. "What boyfriend would not get his girlfriend a present on her birthday?"

"A lousy one," Serenity admitted with a sigh. "Well… I could use a new pair of shoes." After all, she had ruined her pair of high-heeled sandals when she had tumbled down the stairs of Kaiba's nightclub a while ago.

"But no ballet boots," she quickly added.

"Deal," Kaiba agreed. He dumped the last of the broken decorations into the trashcan, just as Serenity closed the box containing the garlands that had survived.

"I'm done," she said, smiling contently.

"Good," Kaiba nodded. "Come on, I'll take you home."

* * *

_Ah, I've always wanted to write a surprise party for Kaiba. I tried to rid the concept of a surprise party of a few stupid clichés, because every fic I've read containing a surprise party for Kaiba have some things in it I personally don't like. First, the surprise always works. Hello, he's Seto Kaiba. He's not that easily fooled really. Second, Kaiba always loves the party because it was Mokuba or whoever he's paired up with who organized it. Not very believable. Kaiba hates parties, he literally says so in the anime. And third: Kaiba owns everything in the world, except for the presents he receives. I thought it would be good if Kaiba already owned the present Serenity gave him; at least that shows he indeed likes it. I chose for her to give him a book by Nietzsche because Kaiba was reading a book by that German philosopher in the very first episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! Besides, I think Nietzsche's 'God is dead' theory would appeal to Kaiba. Anyway, next chapter will feature Serenity's birthday, and it's already thought out for the most part. However, I must warn you: there might be very long gaps in my updating schedule from now on. Don't think for a second I've given up on this, but I'm starting my Senior Year in High School tomorrow and I will have to cut back on writing and make more time for homework from now on. So from now until my exams in May, I'll be an extremely slow updater (as if I wasn't slow already), so please forgive me for that. And now I'll let you all rest in peace. If you have the time, please leave me a review so I can improve my writing. Until next time!_


	11. Perfect Partner

**Random Stranger**

**_Summary: _**_In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. Silentshipping._

**_Disclaimer: _**_Unfortunately, the ownership of Yu-Gi-Oh! failed to show up underneath my Christmas tree... again. Thanks for nothing, Santa._

**_Author's note: _**_Hello, and welcome back to 'Random Stranger'! I'd like to wish you all a very happy (late) New Year, and I hope everyone has enjoyed Christmas time. For now, I can finally present a new chapter to you all. I had good hopes I'd get it done before Christmas, but as you can see, I failed. Please forgive me. Nevertheless, I have to ask a favor of you (yes, I know I'm selfish). You see, in a lot of reviews I receive, people tell me there are some mistakes in my story, but that I'll be able to catch them if I just read it through a bit more carefully. Now here's the thing: I won't. While I'm human and I do leave some stupid mistakes in each chapter, a lot of things that are wrong in the story aren't the because of my neglect to read it through, but because I have still not fully mastered the English language. For example, **Inali Grimalkin**, a very nice reviewer who I'd like to thank very much, pointed out to me that I had written 'eatable' instead of 'edible' in the previous chapter. Now I must confess, I had no clue the correct word was 'edible'. I figured, since you are 'able' to 'eat' it, the right word is 'eatable'. Had Inali Grimalkin not pointed it out to me, I would never have known it was wrong. Therefore, I would like to ask all my reviewers to tell me what mistakes you found. Don't just say that there are some mistakes, but please tell me exactly what I did wrong. If not, some of the mistakes will never be caught by me and I will continue to make them throughout the rest of my writing career. Thank you in advance. For now, please enjoy the latest installment of 'Random Stranger'._

* * *

_**Chapter 11: Perfect Partner**_

* * *

Serenity sighed contently as she pulled her long hair free from the scrunchie that had held it together for the past few hours. She was currently on her way back to her apartment after completing her evening shift at _La Mode_, the clothing store where she worked. Having survived yet another four hours worth of torture, Serenity was glad to be going home.

It was now eight in the evening, and since it was November, that meant the sky was already pitch black and filled with thousands of beautiful little lights. Serenity could stare at the stars forever, but she knew she couldn't linger to look at the heavens for too long. After all, it was Monday, the one day of the week Joey got off from work earlier than usual, and Serenity knew he was now without a doubt waiting for her to arrive home. He always told her she should look out for herself, especially when it was dark, because she didn't know what creeps were hiding in the shadows of an alley, waiting for a pretty girl to come along. If she arrived at their apartment even a minute later than usual, Joey would already be on the phone with the police.

It was therefore she left the stars for what they were and continued her way. Luckily, she lived close to the mall, which meant there were few creepy alleys on her route.

Soon she arrived at the large grey building that contained her home. After jogging up the four flights of stairs, searching her uniform jacket for her keys and unlocking the door, she finally stepped inside her apartment.

Glad to be back in the warmth of her home, Serenity closed the door behind her with quite some force, knowing the sound would let Joey know she was back.

She slid off her uncomfortable red uniform jacket, breathing a sigh of relief once she had rid herself of the itchy fabric. As she turned to dump it on the hallstand, she noticed something peculiar: a dark blue suitcase laying underneath the hallstand. If that belonged to who she thought it did, it could only mean one thing…

Leaving her jacket on the floor, she bolted through the door that separated the hallway from the living room. She instantly spotted the owner of the suitcase sitting on the couch, right next to a grinning Joey.

Serenity immediately flung herself at the older woman. "Mom!" she exclaimed, smiling brightly. "You're here already! I thought you wouldn't be coming until Wednesday!"

Her mother gladly returned her daughter's embrace. "Hello, dear," she greeted her only daughter. "I've missed you."

"I missed you too, mom," Serenity whispered into her mother's hair. She hadn't seen her mother since she and Joey had gone to visit her for her birthday back in May, and she was very happy to know the former misses Wheeler would be staying in Domino until Saturday morning.

That Friday was Serenity's birthday, the day she would turn eighteen. In only four days time, the youngest Wheeler would become an adult. She had to admit, it was a bit unnerving. So much would change once her birthday came around the corner. She would become responsible for her own insurances, she'd be allowed to get her driver's license, she would be able to make big decisions without consent from an older family member… It would definitely need some getting used to.

Serenity eventually released her mother and sat herself down between her two most beloved family members, still smiling brightly. "I'm so happy you're here, mom."

"So am I," the former misses Wheeler smiled back at her offspring. "I figured taking a few extra days off to spend with my children couldn't hurt."

"Aw, ma," Joey whined, "cut it with the mushy family stuff already."

His mother and sister both laughed, and Joey himself soon joined in as well. As she watched the two people she cherished most in life being happy, Serenity was still amazed at how well her family was getting along after all that had happened in their younger years. Their mother had always regretted leaving her son behind with the drunk that was his father, and Joey had never stopped resenting his mother for abandoning him and taking away his only sibling with her. However, when they had met at the hospital while Serenity was recovering from her eye operation, the two of them had reconciled. Joey now understood that his mother hadn't wanted to leave him, but had simply been left without much of a choice. After their mother divorced their father, the judge had decided that the children were to be divided amongst the parents. Their mother had taken Serenity away because the younger Wheeler had always been the more fragile child. Joey now understood it had been for the best, knowing that Serenity would never have survived living with their father.

When their laughter ceased, the former misses Wheeler turned to face her daughter. "Well, I've already interrogated Joseph, so now it's your turn. What's been going on in your life, Serenity?"

"Not too much, to be honest," Serenity pondered. "I've told you everything there is to know over the phone last week. I guess my life's not that exciting."

Joey suddenly coughed loudly, causing the two women to look at him with raised eyebrows. "Serenity, aren't you forgetting about something? Or rather… someone?"

Serenity's face remained quizzical. "I don't think so, Joey."

"A certain… special someone? You know, that _guy_?" Leave it to Joey to give a subtle clue.

"Guy?" Their mother's attention was now definitely all Serenity's.

Serenity softly bit her bottom lip. She had hoped to avoid this. "Yes, mom. I'm… in a relationship with someone," she explained to her mother, choosing her words carefully. "His name is Seto."

"And his last name is Kaiba," Joey added with a sly grin.

The older woman gasped. "You're in a relationship with _Seto Kaiba_?"

Serenity sighed heavily. She had quite some explaining to do…

* * *

Kaiba's fingers moved over the keyboard with inhuman speed. His latest invention was in its final phase of production, and he needed to get the first products out the door before December came around the corner. If his calculations were correct, this new piece of technology was going to be the Christmas gift for many children across the globe this year.

Just as he was about to lay the last hands on one of the final reports, his ever-present BlackBerry started to buzz. Kaiba snatched it with his left hand, leaving his right to continue typing. He looked at the screen of the expensive mobile phone to see the caller ID. His eyebrows rose when he saw it was Serenity Wheeler, but that was more out of amusement than surprise. He'd had a suspicion he would be needed to appear on her birthday even though she had told him he wouldn't. He had kept his agenda for that Friday evening empty for that sole purpose, planning all his meetings on the days around it.

"Let me guess," was the first thing he said when he answered the phone. "You need a date for this Friday."

There was a stunned silence at the other end of the line, which was followed by a sigh. "I do."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"I'm sorry," she sincerely apologized to him. "I really thought I'd be able to avoid telling my mother about the two of us, but thanks to a little hint from Joey I had no other choice. When she heard I was dating Seto Kaiba…"

Kaiba heard her sigh again, and smirked. His name never failed to awe. "So what do I have to do?"

"My mother wants you to take her, me and Joey out to dinner," Serenity explained. "I figured you would know an acceptable restaurant that isn't stalked by the media."

Of course Kaiba knew a restaurant like that. There was only one, at the far end of Domino City, near the coffee shop he had dragged Serenity to in order to teach her the art of Duel Monsters. Their food was to die for, but very few knew about the wonders of the place because it had such an unfortunate location. It had even been on the brink of bankruptcy a few years ago, but Kaiba had prevented his heaven on earth from closing by donating a healthy sum of money. In return, the restaurant was kept alive, and its owner had promised to keep any paparazzi away from the place to protect Kaiba's privacy.

"I think _Monet _will do quite nicely."

"It sounds wonderful," she agreed with him.

"It is," Kaiba assured her. "I'll come to fetch you and your family Friday at seven. I'm sure your mother won't mind traveling by limousine, though I'd advise her to wear comfortable shoes, seeing as she'll first have to walk to that pathetic excuse for a parking lot where you always insist on meeting me."

He could almost hear her smile through the phone. "Thank you," she thanked him, obviously very relieved he would be able to make it to her birthday. "I'm sorry for the short notice."

"I had somewhat expected it," Kaiba admitted to her. "I would've been surprised if your mother hadn't demanded to meet the man who her daughter is in a 'relationship' with."

"I guess you have a point there," Serenity agreed, "though I think mom wants to meet you not because you're supposed to be my boyfriend, but because you're Seto Kaiba."

He chuckled. "My name tends to have that effect," he said smugly.

"I'm glad it does," Serenity told him. "Usually mom is very good at searching for flaws in a person. I hope your reputation will cloud her vision a little. If mom decides she doesn't like you, we will never hear the end of it."

"Then I'll make sure your mother _will _like me," Kaiba stated confidently. His charm had swooned many critics before. This woman would not be a problem.

"I hope you will," Serenity sighed. Though she had full confidence in Kaiba's acting skills, she also knew what a nitpicker her mother could be. If her mother didn't approve of Kaiba as her partner, Serenity knew she'd have to end the deal between Kaiba and herself.

"This _will_ go well," he growled through the phone. "I'll be damned before I let Mokuba set me up with some random bimbo again. If we simply act as we always do, we'll be fine."

"I suppose you're right," she said, his words having lifted her spirits a little.

"I know I'm right," Kaiba countered. "Just be ready and in place with your family at seven on Friday. I'll take care of everything else."

"I'll be ready," Serenity told him confidently. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. It's only a part of our deal," Kaiba shrugged. "Now if you don't mind, I have work to do."

"Oh! Of course," she exclaimed, only now realizing how long she'd been keeping him from his important job as a CEO. "I'm sorry for wasting your time. I'll leave you to your work, then."

After saying goodbye, Kaiba hung up the phone and turned towards his laptop again.

The first thing he did was order a pair of Jimmy Choo's to be delivered to the Kaiba Mansion as soon as possible.

* * *

Kaiba sat in the back of his largest, most impressive white limousine. There was not a wrinkle in his body-hugging white suit, his blue tie was perfectly straight and his expensive white shoes shone with intensity. Underneath his seat laid his always present silver briefcase, though its contents differed from the usual laptop, paperwork or Duel Monsters cards. That night, it contained nothing but a single rectangular box, wrapped neatly by a servant in silver paper and decorated with a blue bow.

Everything was set. Reservations at _Monet_ had been made, a present had been bought and research had been done. There was nothing that hadn't been taken care of. He had planned everything perfectly in order to ensure a pleasurable outcome of the evening. The woman who had conceived the girl who was pretending to be his girlfriend would be swept off her feet.

He drummed his fingers on his leg, feeling rather useless without his portable computer to accompany him. Though he knew it had been a wise decision to leave his work at home to avoid him from becoming distracted by his new, soon to be finished product, he still wished he had something to do during the half hour it would take Ed to drive to the Wheelers.

He leaned back with a sigh and crossed both his arms and legs as he went over the upcoming dinner in his mind for the umpteenth time.

By the time they neared the parking lot where he had agreed to meet the Wheelers, Kaiba had mused over the evening three times. Every detail was carefully planned, and though he did not know the mother of his 'girlfriend' personally, the backtracking he had done on her had provided him with all the information he needed to charm her. Nothing could go wrong now.

The limousine rounded the corner, and Kaiba could see three people waiting underneath a streetlight a few feet ahead. He was a little surprised to see they were already set. Seeing as Joey would be coming too, he had anticipated having to wait at least ten minutes for the family to show up.

The car came to a smooth halt. Kaiba could now see the three Wheelers clearly through the window, though the tainted glass prevented them from seeing him. While waiting for Ed to come around the car, he briefly studied the people he'd be stuck with that evening.

Serenity was wearing the lavender attire he had bought her, though this time a long, thick coat was draped over it to shield her from the November cold. She was lightly biting her bottom lip, and her hands were fidgeting with her purple purse. It was obvious she was nervous.

Next to her, an elderly woman with short, chocolate curls, who Kaiba assumed to be the mother, was clad in a simple, but elegant black dress, which was covered by an equally black coat. The look on her slightly wrinkled face was a mixture of excitement and fierceness. Though she was enthusiastic about meeting the one and only Seto Kaiba, she was also determined to fairly evaluate his potential as her daughter's partner.

Behind the two women stood Joey, who was dressed in a classic black tuxedo. His hair remained the blonde mess it always was, and his blank facial expression was nothing new either. Kaiba snickered silently. He was nothing more than a monkey in a suit.

Soon Ed had made it from the driver's seat to the back of the limousine. He swiftly opened the door for his boss and bowed, taking his hat off in the process. Kaiba stepped out of the expensive car with elegance, his white shoes hitting the pavement without making a sound.

He turned to Serenity first, embracing her for a few seconds before placing a light kiss on her lips. "Happy birthday."

She smiled at him, her nervousness having faded a little now he had arrived, before she stepped aside to allow her mother to greet Kaiba.

The older woman confidently held out her hand, which Kaiba politely shook. "It's a pleasure to meet you, miss Kawai."

She too smiled at him, and he knew he had just scored the first point in his favor by addressing her by her maiden name. "The pleasure is mutual, mister Kaiba."

Joey came from behind the two women, giving Kaiba a curt, but friendly nod. "Kaiba."

"Wheeler," Kaiba responded, returning the nod.

With the formalities out of the way, Kaiba directed the Wheelers towards his limousine. Joey, clearly unaware it was customary to allow the women to enter before the men, climbed in first. Miss Kawai sighed at her son's lack of manners before she followed him inside. Serenity went in after her mother, and Kaiba was the last to sit himself down.

Ed closed the door behind them and went back to the driver's seat, leaving Kaiba alone with the Wheelers. He was sitting next to Serenity. Across from him was miss Kawai, and next to her sat Joey. All three of the guests seemed to feel rather out of place in the large limousine.

When the car started to move, Kaiba carefully took a hold of Serenity's hand. After a little research, he had learned holding hands was the best thing to do in front of the mother; it showed signs of attraction and bonding, yet did not imply any vulgar intentions towards the daughter on the boyfriend's part. Judging by the look on miss Kawai's face, it was working.

"Say, mister Kaiba, where will you be taking us tonight?" the older woman asked after a short silence.

Kaiba had anticipated the question. His choice of restaurant would give her an indication of his tastes. "_Monet_. It is a remarkable restaurant with the finest French cuisine."

"Really? I've never heard of it before."

"Most haven't," Kaiba replied. "It has a very unfortunate location, at the far end of town. Though I can assure you the food is exquisite, and it is the one decent restaurant I've found that has not been discovered by the media yet."

"Ah, yes." Miss Kawai recalled what her daughter had explained to her. "Serenity told me she was uncomfortable with the paparazzi. I think it is very considerate of you to keep her out of the spotlights for the time being."

"Anything to ensure your daughter's happiness," Kaiba said, his face dead serious.

Miss Kawai nodded with a smile. That was another point in Kaiba's favor. So far, so good.

As the two of them talked more small talk, Serenity and Joey watched in amazement, neither of them understanding how Kaiba was charming their mother with such incredible ease. Even Mai, the most charming woman they knew, had been shot down immediately, yet Kaiba seemed to have completely wrapped the older woman around his finger only ten minutes after meeting her. It was astonishing.

They soon arrived at the restaurant. Kaiba hadn't said a word too much; though its location was unfortunate, it was still a top class restaurant. The Wheelers looked around with their mouths agape, taking in the beautiful interior, while Kaiba called for the waiter and arranged for them to be taken to their seats. He had chosen a table on the second floor, with a beautiful view of the city. He usually stayed as far away from the window as possible, but he figured a clear view of the city (especially Kaiba Corporation's main building) would certainly impress Serenity's mother.

He turned out to be right. When the waiter had shown them their table, both Serenity and her mother were gawking out the window within seconds.

"It really is a breathtaking view," miss Kawai said as she sat down in the chair the waiter had pulled back for her. "I can see why you like it here, mister Kaiba. This is a wonderful restaurant."

"Don't say that too soon, ma," Joey joked. "You haven't tasted the food yet."

That remark earned him a nasty look from the waiter.

"Now Joseph, I'm sure the cuisine will be just fine. You shouldn't insult the chef before you've tried his creations," miss Kawai scolded her son. Kaiba couldn't help but grin as Joey muttered something incomprehensible and sat down without another word. Though his 'relationship' with Serenity prevented him from putting the Mutt in his place, it was good to know there was still someone else who kept Joey from tugging on his leash too much. Perhaps he could actually grow to tolerate this woman.

When they were all properly seated, the waiter took their orders for drinks and went to fetch the menu, which he brought back to them only half a minute later. While the waiter left again to prepare their drinks, the four of them studied their menus to determine what they were going to order.

Kaiba, who had eaten at the restaurant many times before and had established a regular order quite some time ago, barely needed to glance at the leather bound food manual. Joey and Serenity made their choice fairly quickly as well, but miss Kawai seemed to have some trouble figuring out what the French names of the dishes meant, since she had not followed French back in High School like her daughter, nor had she worked in a restaurant like her son. With a little help from her children and Kaiba, she eventually decided.

She was just in time, too. Barely a second after the older woman had laid down her menu, the waiter returned with their drinks.

After he had placed the four glasses in front of their rightful recipients, he whipped out a notepad and a pen. "Have you decided on your order, sirs, madams?"

The four of them all gave the waiter their order for the three upcoming courses, which he scribbled down speedily. When everything had been written down, he shut the notebook and smiled. "Very well. I shall return to you with the first course shortly."

He turned and left. That was the cue for miss Kawai to lean forward, rest her chin on her folded hands and stare at Kaiba intensely. The time for interrogations had commenced.

Everyone at the table was aware of this. Serenity was nervously fidgeting with her napkin, afraid of the outcome of this round of twenty questions. If Kaiba gave her mother even one unacceptable answer, everything would be lost. She knew that if her mother decided she did not accept him as her boyfriend, she would have to untie the deal she'd made. Joey was able to put up with their mother's constant pestering because his love for Mai was strong enough to withstand even a tornado, but since Serenity had no feelings for Kaiba besides a not too strong sense of friendship, she was sure she wouldn't be able to deal with her mother's disapproval. This had to go well. If not, everything was over.

Kaiba knew this all too well, and he wasn't about to screw up. This deal with Serenity had worked out very well for him, especially when it came to Mokuba. Though he occasionally had to reserve some time to spend with his supposed girlfriend in order to demolish any suspicions the people around them could possibly have, he'd found he had a lot more time on his hands without his little brother constantly trying to get him into a relationship. Not only that, but when Serenity came around and got over her fear for the media, he'd also gain a lot of extra publicity. He would make sure he'd get through these questions, no matter what.

Joey leaned back in his chair, an amused smile on his face. Seeing someone else facing the wrath of his mother instead of him was a welcome change for him. Especially when that someone was Kaiba.

The first question was not too difficult, a simple one to start with, designed only to create a false air of ease. "So, mister Kaiba, how long have you and my daughter been involved?"

"Nearly nine months now. Next Tuesday it will have been exactly nine months," Kaiba stated the information miss Kawai wanted to know. He and Serenity had decided to tell the others they had started dating four month before they made their deal, and that they had kept it a secret because they weren't sure how their families would react. In reality, their deal had only been going on for about five months.

Miss Kawai nodded, pleased that the answer he had given her corresponded with the information she had pried out of Serenity. At least her daughter's boyfriend knew when their anniversary was.

The Wheelers' mother continues her interrogation in the same mild fashion, asking questions such as 'Where did you meet my daughter?' and 'Where did you take her on your first date?' Kaiba was able to sail through them easily, his genius brain able to produce the correct answers within seconds. Unfortunately, miss Kawai had barely even started.

When the first course arrived for the four of them, miss Kawai switched over to the serious questions. In between bites of her bouillabaisse, she tried to make Kaiba slip up by asking more prying questions, such as 'How far have you gone with my daughter?' and 'How are your thoughts on marriage?'

Kaiba kept his cool as always, answering the questions calmly, but Serenity had turned the same color as the smoked salmon on her plate. These were the questions she had been afraid of, the ones she had warned Kaiba of. She was glad Kaiba seemed to be handling it a lot better than she ever could.

Indeed, he was handling it very well; even miss Kawai had to admit that. He soared through her second round of questions easily, all his answers calm and discrete, never slipping up even once. Serenity had gotten herself a good one, a man worthy of being with her. As a mother, miss Kawai could not be happier with Kaiba as her possible son-in-law. Still, there was one more question she wanted to ask, if only to see how he would handle it.

She waited patiently until the waiter left after bringing them the main course before she turned to Kaiba again. "I have just one more question for you, mister Kaiba."

"Whatever you want to know," Kaiba said as he cut into his confit de canard.

"I was wondering," miss Kawai started, choosing her words carefully, "why you allow my daughter to continue living in that horrific criminal neighborhood she is condemned to now. With your fortune I'm sure you could arrange a home for her in a far more pleasant area."

A stunned silence fell. Kaiba's eyebrows disappeared behind his hair, his face not hiding his surprise at the older woman's nerve. Serenity had turned bright red from embarrassment, and she turned her full attention to her plate, unable to look her mother or Kaiba in the eye. Even Joey, who was clearly enjoying Kaiba's predicament, thought the question was out of line. No one, not even someone as rich as Kaiba, should be expected to buy a house for someone he hadn't even been dating for a year.

Kaiba's mind raced, trying to come up with an answer that would satisfy the older woman, but he really just wanted to tell her how preposterous her question was. Even if he really had been dating Serenity, he doubted he would've bought her a place to live after only nine months. This woman's expectations were ridiculous.

After some careful consideration, he decided it would be best to tell her she was nuts as politely as possible, but before he got a chance to do so, his pretend-to-be girlfriend spoke.

"I asked, mom."

"You asked?" her mother echoed, not quite understanding her daughter's statement. "What do you mean, Serenity?"

"I asked Seto not to spend too much on me," Serenity explained, trying to sound as believable as possible. "I'm dating him, not his money, and I don't want anyone to think otherwise. Besides, I have a job. I can fend for myself."

"Of course you can fend for yourself, dear, I never implied you couldn't," miss Kawai soothed her daughter, "and I can understand you not wanting to rely on your boyfriend too much, but your job doesn't really earn you that much money." She then smiled. "Ah well, it doesn't matter. One more year and you'll be off to medical school anyway."

Serenity sunk back into her seat after that last remark. "…Yeah."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow at her. From what he had heard, she was planning on going to art school, not medical school. It seemed dear old mum was in charge of her children's futures.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who was surprised. Joey too wore a baffled expression on his face. "Medical school? Since when do you want to go to medical school, sis? I thought you were going to art school."

"Art school?" miss Kawai asked sharply, causing her daughter to cringe in her seat. "I thought you finally came to your senses about that. It is nearly impossible to break through as an artist. We decided it would be much wiser for you to go to medical school."

"No mom," Serenity said in a small voice, "_you_ decided it would be much wiser for me to go to medical school. I know the chance of me making it an artist is slim, but it's been my dream to study art for years. I don't want to abandon that dream, mom."

"I understand, Serenity, but we've been over this," her mother countered sternly. "I don't want my daughter to end up in the gutter!"

"Relax, ma," Joey chimed in. "Serenity can always come live in my mansion when I'm a famous chef. She won't end up in the gutter."

"Now you listen to me, Joseph Wheeler…"

By that time, Kaiba had stopped listening to the small family feud that was escalating at the table. Knowing it wasn't any of his concern, he focused his attention on his plate, calmly slicing the duck he had ordered. It wasn't until he had nearly finished when he was pulled into the argument.

"I say, mister Kaiba, you're a businessman. You are successful. Could you please explain to my daughter she is throwing her future away by going to art school?"

Kaiba sighed as he put his silverware down. "I wouldn't say that," he said thoughtfully, "though it is a risk one must be willing to take."

Miss Kawai seemed satisfied with that answer. "So you agree it's an unnecessary risk?"

"A risk, yes. Unnecessary, no."

Now the older woman looked slightly confused. "I'm afraid I don't follow you."

Kaiba sighed again. He should've known she wouldn't understand. This was the woman who had given birth Joey Wheeler, after all. It seemed he would have to make his point by giving her an example. "Did you know, miss Kawai, that Kaiba Corporation used to be a facility that manufactured weapons instead of games?"

"No, I didn't know that," miss Kawai said, still confused as to where Kaiba was going with this.

"Well, it was. Under the regime of my stepfather, Kaiba Corporation was a company that was dedicated to building weaponry. It was a well-known company to its clients. Militaries from several countries bought their equipment from Kaiba Corporation. It was the best in its branch."

He paused for a moment to take a sip of his water (he hadn't ordered wine because he knew the mother wouldn't approve). "When I took my stepfather's position, I converted the company into what it is today. Now it makes twice the money a year it did when it produced arms."

He stopped, as if he had made his point, but the others at the table weren't quite getting it. "I'm confused, mister Kaiba," miss Kawai said. "What does this have to do with Serenity wanting to go to art school?"

Kaiba mentally rolled his eyes. Was it really all that hard to understand? Well, judging by the looks on the faces of the other people at the table, it was. Apparently he would have to spell everything out for them.

"When a company has a certain image," Kaiba reluctantly continued his explanation, "it is difficult to rid it of that image. Converting an arms company into a gaming company costs a lot of time, effort and money. Employees have to adapt to a new function or be replaced by someone who had experience in the new branch. Clients abandon the company, no longer able to get what they need, and new clients are hesitant to order from a company that used to produce weaponry. In fact, it is simpler to build a company from scratch than to convert a company into your liking. Had the conversion not gone the way it had, I would have lost my company. But I did it anyway, because running a company dedicated to developing games had always been my goal. As you would say, miss Kawai, I took an unnecessary risk."

As far as Kaiba was concerned, his point had now been made, so he picked up his silverware again to finish his now sure to be cold main course, leaving miss Kawai and her children to contemplate his words of wisdom.

After a while, miss Kawai seemed to have processed his story. "But mister Kaiba, you surely understand your situation was different. Your intellect has allowed you to successfully convert your company, but I don't see how Serenity will…"

"I've seen a piece of your daughter's work," Kaiba interrupted her. "A painting, painted when she was on the verge of blindness. If it is any indication of what she is capable of now her sight had been restored, I know she had the potential to become a world class artist. She has the talent. Besides, even if she will not live up to that potential, there are many other high paying positions in the art world. I've seen what they pay the Domino Museum's curator. I agree with you that there is no guarantee Serenity will be able to find a job when she finishes art school, but that is the risk she's willing to take. She could end up making more money than any doctor ever will."

Miss Kawai still wasn't entirely convinced. "You seem to know a lot about art for a businessman."

"I admit I do not particularly care for art. Only the occasional literature sparks my interest. However, as a businessman, attending certain events is part of my duties. Galleries are not an uncommon destination for me."

"I see," miss Kawai said with a nod. "It seems you do know your expertise, mister Kaiba. Maybe I have misjudged this situation."

Serenity's head shot up at the sound of that last comment. She had listened to the conversation between Kaiba and her mother very carefully, hoping Kaiba would not turn her mother against him at the very last moment. Never had she expected anything good to come out of their discussion, let along Kaiba convincing her mother to let her go to art school. She had placed all her hopes on the scholarship appointed to the best student, studying her hardest for every test to make sure she stayed on top of her class, knowing it was the only way she could ever get into art school since she was sure her mother would not pay for it in a million years. And now her mother had changed her mind? Was she really going to let her daughter spend the college money she saved on a study she thought to be useless, all after only one talk with Kaiba?

As she silently wondered what on earth was going on, her mother diverted her attention from Kaiba and turned to face her daughter. "Serenity, dear," she started carefully, trying to find the right words, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tried to plan out your future for you. If you really want to pursue a career as an artist, then I won't try to stop you anymore. You're an adult now, and you are able to make your own choices. Your college fund is yours to spend as you like."

She was barely able to finish talking before she found her breath being cut off by the tight grip of her daughter, who had leaped out of her seat to wrap her arms firmly around her mother's neck.

"Thank you," she whispered softly, tears of gratitude threatening to spill from her hazel eyes. "Thank you so much."

Her mother patted her back. "Don't thank me, dear, thank your boyfriend. He's the one who changed my mind." She pulled away from her daughter's embrace and smiled at her. "You've found yourself a good man, Serenity. Don't let him slip."

"I'll try," Serenity smiled back.

"You know I'm expecting grandchildren, right?"

"Mom!"

* * *

The rest of the evening went by without a hitch. Throughout the remainder of the main course and the desert, the serious topics were exchanged for comfortable small talk, which was much appreciated by all four of them. Only Joey remained relatively silent, sulking over the fact that his mother approved of Kaiba as his sister's significant other while Mai, who was a much better person than Kaiba could ever hope to be, had been instantly rejected.

Still, as much as he did not want to admit it, he was glad Kaiba had been able to change his mother's mind about Serenity's choice of college. Art was all she ever wanted to study, yet she was too sweet and obedient not to listen to her mother's objections. Had Kaiba not swayed their mother, Joey was sure Serenity would have gone off to medical school simply because she did not want to disappoint the woman who raised her.

Overall, he could not complain about the outcome of the evening. Though he had hoped for his mother to dislike Kaiba, he was glad his mother had allowed his sister to go to art school. Serenity looked happier than he had seen her in months, and it was all because of Kaiba. Who knew, maybe that bastard was good for something after all. Joey still didn't like him, but he would tolerate him as long as he continued to make his sister happy. And he would be ready to kick Kaiba's ass the minute he broke Serenity's heart.

Joey was not the only one who was happy with how the evening's events had unfolded. Both Kaiba and Serenity were more than content, knowing their fake relationship and all the advantages it brought would not have to disappear just yet. It was therefore Kaiba had a satisfied smirk on his face as he and the Wheelers sat back down in the limousine after he'd paid the bill, which he insisted was no trouble to cover by himself.

Still, he had to admit getting through the evening hadn't been an easy task. Serenity hadn't been exaggerating when she told him her mother would be difficult to handle. The woman was an unbelievable busybody, and Kaiba could easily see which traits her idiot son had inherited from her. Had he not been a well-trained businessman, skilled in telling others exactly what they wanted to hear, he would not have been able to pass miss Kawai's test. Luckily for him and Serenity, he _had_ passed, and their deal could continue to exist.

Now Kaiba only had to deliver the Wheelers at their apartment and give Serenity her birthday gift before he could go home and get some access paperwork done. Well, that was after he finished reporting everything which had occurred that evening to his little brother, who would without a doubt be anxiously awaiting his return by now. Kaiba nearly smiled at the thought. Mokuba had gotten mostly off his back about the whole dating thing after learning of Serenity, but he was still very interested in his older brother's love life. When Kaiba told him he was going to meet Serenity's mother a few days earlier, the boy had been more anxious than Kaiba himself. He had ran around the house frantically, trying to find Kaiba the perfect outfit, making sure the finest limousine was absolutely spotless and learning his brother some icebreaking phrases in case the conversation would get stuck. Sweet as it was, it had annoyed Kaiba endlessly, and he was glad he wouldn't have to hear about it again after tonight. Still, compared to the things Mokuba used to do to 'help' him get a girlfriend, this was not so bad.

The ride back to the Wheelers' apartment did not take long. Most of the time was spent in silence, the passengers all too full and sleepy to fancy a lengthy conversation. It wasn't long before Ed pulled up at the edge of the parking lot where the three guests would get out.

Once Ed had come around to open the door, Kaiba was the first to step outside. Following the gentleman rulebook, he extended his hand to escort both Serenity and her mother out, leaving Joey to climb out by himself.

"Well mister Kaiba, I'd like to thank you for a lovely evening," miss Kawai smiled once she was outside. "I hope we will meet again soon."

"As do I," Kaiba lied. He had no desire of seeing the woman anytime soon, if ever again. Depending on how long his deal with her daughter lasted, he would try to put off a next meeting for as long as he could.

"We'll be going, then. Until next time, mister Kaiba. Come along, Joseph. Let's leave these two to say goodbye."

Knowing that 'saying goodbye' meant a kiss, Joey was reluctant to leave his baby sister behind, but he followed his mother anyway. The two were soon out of sight, walking back to the warmth of the apartment complex, leaving Kaiba and Serenity by themselves.

The moment they were out of sight, Serenity cracked a huge smile. She had successfully contained most of her happy emotions after Kaiba's talk with her mother, but now she couldn't help ginning like she just won the lottery.

"I take the fact that I am able to count your teeth as an indication you thought the evening went well?"

Serenity nodded happily. "It went great!," she exclaimed. "You were amazing! I never thought you'd be able to get my mother to like you so easily. And you even convinced her to let me spend my college money on art school! I don't think the evening could have gone any better!"

Drawn in by her enthusiasm, Kaiba cracked a smirk. "Of course it went well. I've swayed the most powerful businessmen in the world. A concerned mother can't be a problem."

Her smile softened. "Well, I think you were great anyway. And thank you for getting my mother to approve of my going to art school."

"Don't mention it."

"No, really, thank you," Serenity insisted. "You didn't have to do it; it wasn't necessary for our credibility as couple. Agreeing with my mother would have been a lot easier, but you still stood up for my dream, and I want you to know I really appreciate that."

"Yeah, well," Kaiba muttered uncomfortably, "I know what it's like to have a parent wanting to control your every move. It isn't exactly fun. And since you still haven't grown a backbone like I told you to, I could hardly expect you to handle it on your own."

Serenity giggled. "Maybe you should have gotten me a backbone for my birthday."

"I tried," Kaiba countered, "but they were out of stock. The new ones won't be fully grown until next month."

"Oh, that's too bad," Serenity sighed, her voice filled with fake sadness.

Kaiba chuckled as he shook his head in amusement. "If it's any consolation, I did get you something else."

"Something else?," Serenity questioned, a little surprised. "Oh no, that's not necessary. You already paid for dinner, and you gave me the best gift by convincing my mother to let me go to art school. You really don't have to – "

Kaiba raised his hand to cut her off. "I thought we went over this. A boyfriend who does not get his girlfriend a gift for her birthday…"

"…Is a lousy one," Serenity finished his sentence, remembering their conversation after Kaiba's birthday party. "You're right."

"I'm always right," Kaiba stated matter-of-factly before he leaned into the back of the car to retrieve the silver briefcase that contained Serenity's gift. Opening it, he took hold of the neatly wrapped present and handed it to the young woman in front of him. "Here," he said gruffly. "Happy birthday."

Serenity gladly took it from him. "Thank you."

She didn't even have to unwrap it to know what it was. Having held many of them during her shopping trips with Mai and Tea, she could easily recognize a shoe box when she had one in her hands. A small smile played across her lips. Kaiba had remembered what she had asked him for her birthday. How sweet of him.

Carefully, she untied the blue bow and unwrapped the present, making sure not to tear the silver wrapping paper in the process. She pulled off the paper to indeed reveal the shoe box she had predicted to find. Once the paper had been disposed off, Serenity opened the white shoe box, expecting to find a modest pair of shoes which would cost a hundred dollars at most. She was in for quite the surprise. Inside the box laid a pair of black heeled sandals. A solid base and a firm heel were decorated by many straps going from the toe to the ankle, creating a playful effect. Every one of those straps was decorated by dozens of tiny, shiny diamonds, and the name 'Jimmy Choo' was carved into the soles. They were beautiful.

Serenity stared at the footwear with wide eyes. How much had those cost? The brand, the materials, the design… If those were real diamonds on those straps, and she was fairly sure they were, then Kaiba had to have paid at least a few thousand dollars for them. She and the fifteen-dollar book she had gotten Kaiba for his birthday could never compete.

Tearing her eyes away from the shoes, she replaced the lit on the box and held it out to Kaiba. "I can't accept these."

Kaiba didn't take the box from her. "Why not?"

"They are far too expensive."

"So?"

"So, you shouldn't have spent so much on me," Serenity said as she shook her head. "I didn't do anything to deserve such a wonderful gift."

"Yes, you did," Kaiba countered. "You were born. Isn't that the reason gifts are distributed on a birthday?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"And isn't it rude to decline a thoughtful present, no matter how you may feel about it?"

Serenity failed to come with an answer after that, and Kaiba, knowing he had just claimed victory on their verbal battle, smirked. "Take the shoes. They're yours."

She sighed as she nodded, clutching the box tightly to her chest. "I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Last time I checked, gifts were not supposed to be repaid," Kaiba said casually. She really didn't understand that the money he had paid for the shoes failed to put even the tiniest dent in his bank account.

"Well then, thank you," Serenity smiled brightly. "They are very beautiful."

"That's why I picked them," Kaiba said. "Now let's get you home."

Serenity nodded, and the two of them made their way towards the apartment complex. Kaiba still hadn't given up on walking her home, Serenity noted, and she secretly smiled. Though most wouldn't say it, Kaiba was actually a very thoughtful man. Walking her home to make sure nothing happened, not forcing her to show herself to the media, giving ridiculously expensive presents without expecting anything in return… And those were only a few things. Seto Kaiba was a much better man than he was made out to be.

When they arrived at the front door of apartment 428, Serenity turned to Kaiba with a bright smile on her pretty face. "Thank you for one of the best birthdays I've ever had."

"My pleasure," Kaiba answered stiffly.

Retrieving her key and opening the door with it, she faced Kaiba one more time. "Goodnight, Seto."

"Goodnight, Serenity."

With that, Kaiba made his leave, and Serenity stepped inside her apartment to spend the remainder of her birthday with her two most beloved family members.

* * *

_And that wraps up chapter 11, folks. I must say, I have wanted to write something like this for a while now, with Kaiba meeting Serenity's mother. It's always just about Joey in most stories, while I personally think Serenity would value her mother's opinion just as much as Joey's, if not more. She is the woman who raised her, after all. The mom was also very fun to write. I decided to call her miss Kawai, since she wouldn't be called Wheeler anymore after the divorce and I figured it would be best to go with a name that is cannon. For her character, I tried to make her seem polite and well-manner like her daughter, but also straightforward and tactless, like her son. I hope I somewhat succeeded. Also, the whole thing with art school has been in my mind since the beginning of this story. In all honesty, I don't think Serenity, with her near blindness, would even want to go to art school. I could picture her as a doctor much more easily. But, I wanted mom to have a problem with her choice of college, and medical school isn't something a parent can complain about. As I see it, the Wheelers' mother would be very controlling over her children, because they had such a lousy father, and would therefore thoroughly inspect their partners and their plans for the future. If she doesn't agree with something, she'll nag until everybody succumbs to her will. Trust me, I have a grandmother like that, and it is always better to just give up, otherwise she'll still be on it years later. That's why Serenity and Kaiba were so anxious to get through the evening, because failure would mean constant nagging, and constant nagging would mean termination of their deal. Of course, Kaiba is Kaiba, and I can't think of any mother who wouldn't adore him as her daughter's partner. Well, that was my chapter analysis. Sorry for the long talk. I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless. Until next time!_


	12. Santa Claus

**Random Stranger**

**_Summary: _**_In a desperate attempt to get Tristan and Duke to back off, Serenity grabs the arm of a random stranger and says that he's her boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, the random stranger she picked isn't as random as she'd like him to be. Silentshipping._

**_Disclaimer: _**_My elaborate __scheme of becoming a lawyer to obtain the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh! had just been set in motion. For now, however, I don't own anything._

_**Author's note:** Holy crap on a cracker, I still live! =O Well, it's been a year and a half, and I don't know how many people are actually still reading this (I wouldn't blame anyone who's given up on this story), but I would like to use this author's note to sincerely apologize for my absence. The thing is, the last half of 2012 has been the worst six months of my life. When it rains, it pours, and I've been soaked thoroughly. It's brought me a lot of sadness, and as I often write according to my mood, I had a lot of trouble with this fluffy, happy story. And even when things began looking up again, I had already been working on this chapter for so long nothing seemed quite right, and I hardly got any further with it at all. This chapter has changed a lot during the time I've been working on it, but I am finally at a point were I'm happy enough with it. This is thanks to my amazing beta-reader and good friend _Hug-The-Antihero_, without whom this chapter would not be what it is now. It is also thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 11, because getting a new review in my mailbox even after a year or re-reading some of the old ones really gave me the inspiration to push through with this chapter. Thank you all, and I hope you will enjoy this overdue update of 'Random Stranger'!  
_

* * *

_**Chapter 12: Santa Claus**_

* * *

November was soon forced to make way for his younger brother December, who brought with him low temperatures, freezing rains and icy winds. The streets of Domino gradually became deserted, its citizens preferring to remain within the safety of their warm homes.

Still, the brutal weather did not lower people's spirits, for December also brought something exceptionally wonderful: Christmas.

Nearly everyone enjoyed the thought of Christmas, and Serenity Wheeler was no exception. Christmas was her favorite holiday of the year; it had been ever since she was a little girl. She loved the decorations, the food, the presents and the forgiving atmosphere of it, but mostly she adored the emphasis on spending time with the people she loved.

Like last year, she and Joey had been invited to spend Christmas Eve at the Game Shop with Yugi and his grandfather. Tea and Bakura were staying with their families for the occasion, but Mai, Tristan and Duke would also be celebrating the holiday with them, and Yugi had somehow even convinced the two Kaiba's to join them for the joyous event. Serenity still didn't know how he had managed to persuade the elder Kaiba, but she was very happy to spend Christmas with two additional friends.

She hadn't seen too much of Kaiba at all lately. Besides a few calls to keep their families from getting suspicious about their fake relationship, the two of them hadn't spoken since Serenity's birthday over a month ago.

In their defense, though, they had both been very busy recently. Serenity had finished her midterms only a week ago, just before the Christmas holidays had started, and she had spent so much time studying for them she hadn't even seen Joey on some days. Kaiba had released his newest product only a few days after Serenity's birthday, and he was currently overseeing the sales and distribution of the already hugely popular piece of technology. From what Serenity had understood of the commercial she had seen on the television a couple of times, Kaiba's latest product was called the Kaiba Corporation Patented Portable Duel Field, or just the PDF for short, and it was a modernized version of the old Duel Mats the game used to be played on. It could recognize even the rarest of cards, create state-of-the-art miniature holograms and calculate life points in a fraction of a second. It was perfect for playing high-tech Duel Monsters indoors, and since it was so cold outside, the Duel Fields had been selling like hotcakes.

Of course, the commercial for the latest piece of Duel Monsters technology had not eluded Joey either. He hadn't been able to talk about anything else for weeks, and he was constantly trying to get his little sister to woo Kaiba into letting him have one.

Serenity had to snicker at the thought. When it came to 'wooing' Kaiba, Joey himself had about the same chances as she did.

Nevertheless, because she loved her brother, she had asked Kaiba if he could arrange a Duel Field for Joey when they last spoke over the phone. She wasn't expecting him to just give Joey one, but she hoped Kaiba might have a lightly damaged one laying around; one which couldn't be sold, but was still working alright.

She sighed as she ran a brush through her soft hair. Whatever Kaiba had gotten Joey for tonight, she hoped it was something her brother could appreciate. She really didn't want Joey to throw a fit on Christmas Eve.

When she had untangled her hair, she swiftly braided it down, knowing the wind and the snow would not be merciful on her if she left it loose.

There was a knock on the bathroom door. "Hey sis, I got all the gifts into the car. You ready to go?"

"Just a second, Joey," she called back to her brother as she tied off the end of her braid. She quickly checked her appearance in the mirror, and decided she was quite happy with the way her new green sweater (bought from her meager Christmas bonus) looked on her.

Putting away her brush, she went to meet her brother in the hallway, ready to have a wonderful Christmas Eve.

When the two Wheelers arrived at the Game Shop, they were welcomed by Yugi, Tristan, Mai, Mokuba and the most delicious smell imaginable. The last immediately lured Joey into the kitchen, but he was quickly chased out again by Yugi's grandfather and his ladle.

Joey was left to sit on the couch, quietly stroking the hand on which Solomon had hit him when he had attempted to reach for one of the many pots and pans on the stove. He was soon joined by Tristan, who had an identical mark on his hand from earlier, and the two of them started a game of 'I spy' to keep their minds of the wonderful food cooking in the other room.

Mai and Yugi were playing a heated game of Duel Monsters in the corner, with Mokuba cheering the both of them on excitedly. Serenity went over to see who was winning.

As expected, it was Yugi who was winning, although just by a hair. He had his Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl on his side of the field, but they were having a hard time against Mai's three powered-up Harpie Ladies. Serenity watched, amazed, as the duel played out. She had never cared much for the game, only pretending to so she wouldn't upset her brother, but because of that lesson she'd gotten from Kaiba a while ago, she was actually able to follow this entire duel. It was so much more fun to watch now that she understood the basics of the game.

By the time Yugi claimed his narrow victory over Mai, Duke had also arrived, and Solomon announced that dinner was almost ready to be served. Naturally, Joey and Tristan raced to the dinner table, quickly seating themselves and grabbing their silverware in anticipation.

Laughing at their eagerness, Serenity and the others followed them to the table and sat themselves down. Serenity ended up at the far right of the table, next to Joey and across from Mokuba. At the head of the table next to her was an empty seat, reserved for the only one who hadn't arrived yet.

Yugi, who was sitting at the other end of the table, had noticed the remaining seat as well. "Say, Mokuba, your brother will be coming tonight, right?"

Mokuba nodded. "Yeah, he'll be here. I'm not sure what time, though. He's got a meeting with some fancy European guy right now."

"A meeting on Christmas Eve?" Mai scoffed. "Not very festive."

"Well, it was either tonight or sometime in April," Mokuba explained with a shrug. He was used to his brother having meetings at odd times, but he also knew his brother never broke a promise, and he had promised he would be at the Game Shop to celebrate Christmas tonight.

The subject of Kaiba's absence was dropped when Solomon emerged from the kitchen. "Alright, dinner's ready. You two boys," he said, pointing at Joey at Tristan, "come help me carry everything."

'Helping' Solomon carry everything came down to Joey and Tristan having to carry everything on their own while the old man used his ladle to direct the flow of plates and bowls. Soon the Muto's small dining table was moaning under the weight of a dozen sweet-smelling dishes.

"Well, I think that's all," Solomon announced when Tristan placed the last dish on the table. "Dig in, everyone!"

He didn't have to say that twice. Joey and Tristan immediately dove for the turkey and were soon in a fight over who would get the legs. Serenity had to chuckle at their squabble. She had never cared much for turkey meat, so she went instead for the roast beef close to her elbow, topping it off with a bit of salad and a fair serving of mashed potatoes. She only needed a few bites to determine the food tasted as amazing as it smelled, if not even better.

During dinner, Serenity couldn't help but keep her ears strained for the sound of the doorbell. While she was most certainly enjoying herself with the people already there, she couldn't help but wish Kaiba was sitting next to her, if only so she could have an intelligent conversation. With Joey to her right and Mokuba across from her, there was very little room for communication, as Joey's mouth was continuously occupied by food, and Mokuba was no light eater either. Serenity would have talked to Mai, who sat diagonally across from her, but the blonde was currently having a heated discussion with Yugi's grandfather about the proper use of a Harpie Lady card.

Nevertheless, dinner seemed to fly by, and soon it was just Joey who was still trying to fit more food into his stomach. When he too laid down his fork, there was barely a crumb left on the table.

"Whew, I'm stuffed!" Joey exclaimed, laying a hand on his protruding belly. "You make one hell of a turkey, gramps."

"Why thank you Joey, that's very kind of you," Solomon smiled at the compliment. He then turned to regard the rest of the table. "I hope that sentiment is shared by all of you."

He was instantly graced with a waterfall of praise. "Yes, of course!" "Best roast beef I've ever had!" and "I gained at least five pounds from just that delicious chocolate fudge!" were only a few of the reactions he received.

"Wonderful!" Solomon exclaimed, clapping his hands together as he stood up. "Then I'm sure you won't mind clearing the table and doing the dishes while I retreat to my chair."

Everyone groaned at Solomon's cheerfulness, but they agreed nonetheless. After all, it was only fair that he got to rest after spending so much time preparing their meal.

The seven of them struggled to get up, but once they were on their feet everything was quickly taken care of. Yugi, Serenity and Mokuba went into the kitchen. Serenity did the dishes, Mokuba dried them off and Yugi put everything back in their rightful place. Joey, Tristan and Duke supplied them with the dirty plates, glasses and gravy boats, while Mai stayed on the side to protect her expensive manicure from getting harmed.

Thanks to their teamwork, it took the gang barely twenty minutes to clean, dry and put away the enormous load of dishes. When their job was done, they gladly retreated into the living room.

"Ah," Joey sighed contently as he plopped down on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table. He wasn't content for long, however, as Solomon almost immediately knocked his feet away.

"Feet off the table!" he scolded sternly.

"Aw gramps, come on!" Joey whined.

Solomon wouldn't have it, and Joey soon gave up, leaning back into the cushions with a huff.

Their little quarrel had only just ended when the shrill sound of the doorbell being rang downstairs filled the apartment, causing Yugi to jump up almost immediately. "That must be Kaiba!" he exclaimed happily, racing off to get the door before anyone else could react.

When Yugi returned about thirty seconds later, there was indeed a tall, blue-eyed young man in his wake, but something about him seemed a bit off. Kaiba looked slightly crumpled, his hair sticking out in odd places and covered with white specks that looked like…

"Snow!" Mokuba yelled at the sight of his brother's hair, running to the window at once to look at the white flakes slowly falling down onto the already white streets. "It's snowing!"

"More like storming," Kaiba grunted in disdain as he tried to shake to melting snow out of his chestnut locks. "I stood outside for barely a minute and I look like a damn Christmas ornament."

Solomon laughed good-heartedly at Kaiba's comment. "You'll fit right in then, boy! Please, have a seat."

"Thank you," Kaiba returned politely, albeit still a bit gruffly, before he sat down next to Serenity on one of the chairs which had been taken from the kitchen table in order to accommodate everyone in the living room.

Serenity smiled tentatively at him when he had taken his seat beside her. "Are you alright?" she asked sweetly, having noticed the stiff posture and harsh tone of voice that usually went with his bad moods.

"Fine," Kaiba all but spat back at her, crossing his arms defensively.

Needless to say, Serenity was not convinced. "What happened?"

"Well, I was_ supposed_ to meet with the CEO of France's most prestigious gaming company," Kaiba growled, obviously quite keen on ranting to someone "but I had to do with his _assistant_, who wanted me to sell their company the distributing rights for the Kaiba Corporation Patented Duel Field in France for a price the homeless wouldn't have accepted, because their pathetic corporation had no more money at their disposal due to a few poor investments."

Kaiba snorted disdainfully. "He wanted me to lower my price 'in the spirit of the holidays'. That's why the bloodsucker wanted to meet on Christmas Eve. Pathetic."

"I understand why you're upset," Serenity said gently when he'd finished his rant. "It was awful of him to abuse the spirit of the holidays like that. But you shouldn't let that meeting ruin your whole evening. You're here now. There's nothing that can stop you from celebrating Christmas with us."

"I don't celebrate Christmas," Kaiba told her, intent on being cranky. "I'm an atheist."

"And I'm agnostic," Serenity replied patiently, "but that doesn't mean I can't celebrate Christmas. And I'm not talking about the birth of Christ," she said quickly when she saw Kaiba raise an eyebrow. "I'm talking about the time we get to spend with the ones we love. For me, that's the true spirit of the holidays."

Kaiba eyed her for a moment, then let his gaze fall on Mokuba, who was happily talking to Yugi about having a snowball fight. He sighed heavily. "Alright, fine, you win. I'll celebrate Christmas tonight. But the minute one of you starts a Christmas carol, I'm out."

No sooner had he said this when Mokuba suddenly called: "Is it time for presents yet?"

"I don't know… It's still early," Yugi replied, checking his watch. When Mokuba's face fell, he smiled, trying to think of a way to cheer the younger Kaiba up. "How about we sing a Christmas carol first?"

"Presents it is!" Serenity exclaimed hastily. She swiftly made her way over to the Christmas tree, followed closely by Mokuba, Joey, Tristan and Kaiba, the latter wearing an amused grin. Obviously outvoted, Yugi had no choice but to join his friends.

Because he had been such a good host, Solomon was allowed to open the first present. Graciously accepting the honor, the old man lazily approached the heap of gifts and plucked one bearing his name from the top of the pile. It was a tiny package, barely the size of an envelope, but it was wrapped beautifully with sparkling silver paper and decorated with a perfectly tied red bow.

Solomon swiftly tore open the present and let the contents fall into his hand. A single Duel Monsters card emerged from the package. With interest, Solomon studied the picture on the card for a brief second before he suddenly clutched at his chest, his face drained of all color. Staggering backwards, Solomon had to sit down on the couch to keep him from collapsing. All the while, his eyes never left the card.

"What is it, gramps?" Joey asked worriedly as the entire group edged closer to the old man in concern. Too shocked to speak, Solomon flipped the card so they could see the picture. They all gasped simultaneously. The card was none other than the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Immediately, everyone turned to look at Kaiba, who faced his shoes uncomfortably. "I had it restored," he told Solomon quietly. "The rip shouldn't be visible in the least anymore."

Solomon's jaw dropped. "You mean to say this is _my_…? But how?"

"I took it from your box last week, grandpa," said Yugi hesitantly, though he was having a hard time hiding his growing smile. "I hope you don't mind."

"Mind? How could I mind?" Solomon asked disbelievingly. There were tears clouding his vision as he set his violet eyes on Kaiba. "Dear boy, this is the most wonderful present I have received in my life. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

"…Sure," Kaiba nodded, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Just don't pass it on to your grandson, alright? He's hard enough to beat without that card in his deck."

"Will do!" Solomon laughed good-heartedly as he carefully tucking away the card in the front pocket of his overall.

"Alright, now it's my turn!" Mokuba exclaimed excitedly after a brief silence. Before anyone could stop him, he had dived into the pile of presents, turning everything upside down in his search for the biggest gift with his name on it.

Glad his little brother had pulled the attention away from him, Kaiba leaned against the wall in relief. He had wanted to apologize to Solomon for destroying his most prized possession for some time now, but he hadn't had a clue on how to go about it. The idea came to him just the week before Christmas, and he had only yesterday received the restored version of the card. Solomon reaction, though, had convinced Kaiba that the dislike of having to ask Yugi for help and paying the extra money to get the restoration done in time had definitely been worth the trouble.

Kaiba's gifts turned out to be popular with everyone that evening, especially with Joey and Yugi, who had both received a brand-new Kaiba Corporation Patented Portable Duel Field from the CEO. Once he had unwrapped it, Joey could hardly wait for the remainder of the presents to be opened, as he really wanted to take his Duel Field for a test run. When Duke finally tore the paper of the last present that had been underneath the Christmas tree, Joey seized his chance. "Alright, who wants to have a duel with me? Anyone? Yug?"

"Sorry Joey, but I'm having a rematch with Mai," Yugi smiled apologetically.

"How about you then, Kaiba?" Joey challenged, a fiery look of determination in his eyes. "You want to be the first person to get beat by me on this Duel Field?"

Kaiba smirked, about to reach for the beloved deck he always carried with him, when he suddenly thought of something. "As much as I would enjoy being the first person to crush you on that Duel Field, I think I'll pass. Though I'm sure your sister wouldn't mind kicking your sorry behind in my place."

He gave Serenity a meaningful glance, and she felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. She had become a much better duelist since Kaiba had taught her some of the basics, but she wasn't good enough by a long shot to defeat Joey. After all, he was the third best duelist in the world! She was about to decline, but when Joey turned to her enthusiastically, excited that his little sister had finally taken an interest in Duel Monsters, she knew she had no choice.

"Well… just one duel couldn't hurt," Serenity caved, causing Joey to cheer happily. She retrieved her deck from her purse as Joey tried to get his Duel Field up and running, which he eventually managed with some help from its creator. Both Wheeler sibling settled themselves on the floor, inserted their decks into the Duel Field and drew their first hand of cards. It was time to duel.

Joey was an excellent duelist. Serenity had known this from watching him, but being his opponent really made her realize what a great strategist her goofy brother had become. It took him just fifteen minutes to get her down to two hundred Life Points, while she had barely been able to make a dent in his.

Serenity had nearly resigned to defeat when she drew the card that would turn the duel around for her: a trap card called Solemn Wishes. In combination with the monster she already held in her hand, Fire Princess, and the Mirror Force card she could use to protect this monster, things suddenly looked a lot better for her.

She summoned her Fire Princess, placed both Solemn Wishes and Mirror Force face-down on the field and ended her turn, hoping her brother wouldn't notice she was up to something. Luckily, he didn't. Joey was already so convinced of his victory he never even considered his inexperienced little sister laying a trap for him. He walked right into it.

The duel was over four turns later, when Fire Princess' special effect claimed the last of Joey's Life Points. Stunned, Serenity stared at her brother, who managed to produce a huge grin in the face of defeat. "You won, sis! Congrats!"

Serenity laughed uneasily, still not quite believing what she had just done. "Thanks, Joey."

"Where did you learn all that, though?" he asked in awe. "I mean, no offense sis, but you weren't that great a duelist before…"

"Actually, Seto taught me some tricks a while back," she admitted shyly. "I would've asked you to teach me, but I figured surprising you would make a good Christmas present."

She was lying, of course, as Kaiba hadn't left her much of a choice when it came to learning how to duel, but Joey didn't have to know that. He would be devastated if he knew she had never gone to him for lessons in dueling because she thought he was a bad teacher.

Joey beamed at her. "Well, you were amazing, sis. Thanks for the great duel, it was a really awesome Christmas present."

"For you and me both," Kaiba, who had watched the duel, interjected smugly. Seeing his pupil defeat her first opponent was very satisfying indeed.

Joey glared menacingly at Kaiba, and for a moment, Serenity was sure her brother was going to punch him in the face – but then he laughed merrily and slapped Kaiba on the shoulder. "I'd like to see you take her on, Kaiba," he chuckled. "Let's see if the student has indeed surpassed the master."

Kaiba snorted. "Yeah, right. I don't need to duel her to know the outcome of that match. You know as well as anyone that a man simply can't win against his girlfriend."

Joey glanced at Mai, who was still dueling Yugi, and shuddered. "I hear you, man. I hear you."

So, the three of them joined the others to watch the thrilling conclusion of the duel between Yugi and Mai, in which Yugi and his Dark Magician managed to escape Mai's Harpie Ladies once again. After their duel had finished, Joey wasted no time in taking his girlfriend's place as Yugi's opponent, while Mai and Solomon borrowed Joey's duel field and started a duel of their own.

Serenity removed herself from the others once the two duels were on their way, settling herself on one of the window-sills to watch the snow falling outside. While she definitely enjoyed Duel Monsters a lot more since Kaiba's lesson, she still didn't care for it as much as her friends seemed to. Playing a game was alright, but that was where the fun ended for her. She'd much rather watch the snow than either of the two duels going on right now.

She wasn't sure how long she'd sat there, but a sudden scream from Mai pulled her roughly out of her thoughts. She jumped from the window sill and whipped around to see Tristan and Duke rolling around on the floor, both of them trying to get back on their feet while keeping the other one down, resulting in a disturbing and thoroughly stupid sight. Everyone jumped back as they nearly trampled Yugi's Duel Field, and in the commotion, Kaiba ended up bumping into her.

"Alright, alright, that's enough!" Solomon's booming voice pulled the boys apart. "What is the matter with you two?!"

Tristan and Duke looked at each other, then at Kaiba, who now stood next to Serenity, and groaned simultaneously.

"It's nothing," Duke muttered after an uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah, just a little… misunderstanding," Tristan agreed.

Solomon opened his mouth to tell them off some more, but a giggle from Mokuba made him swallow his words. Everyone turned to the younger Kaiba, not understanding what was so funny about the situation. In response to their dumbstruck stares, Mokuba pointed at the window where Kaiba and Serenity were standing, above which a single, perfect branch of mistletoe was dangling merrily.

Realization dawned on them all as they looked from the mistletoe to Tristan and Duke, who were both guiltily facing their shoes. For a while, nobody moved, until –

"I want to have a word with you downstairs."

Everyone gasped in surprise at the tone of Serenity's voice. Granted, she had sounded a bit harsher than she meant to, but this had been the last straw for her. The two of them chasing after her was one thing, but to do it when for all they knew she was dating someone else was unacceptable. She had to draw the line somewhere.

Joey looked venomously at Tristan and Duke as they shuffled towards the door leading to the stairs, Serenity on their heels. "Do you want me to come with you, sis?"

"No, Joey," she declined, again sounding harsher than she meant to, "I can handle this myself."

Tristan and Duke disappeared through the door, and she was about to go after them when Mokuba's quiet voice made her stop.

"What about your kiss?"

Serenity glanced at Kaiba, who was still standing underneath the mistletoe. He raised a playful eyebrow at her, and despite her anger at Tristan and Duke, she couldn't help but smile. "That'll just have to wait."

And she followed her two admirers down the stairs.

* * *

The Kame Game Shop was eerie at night. It was as though the eyes of the clown doll in the corner followed Tristan with his eyes, and the Black Luster Soldier on that poster seemed ready to come to life and cut him in half with its shining blade. Despite himself, he shuddered.

"W-what do you think Serenity wants to talk to us about?" he shakily asked Duke, who was leaning against the counter, apparently unnerved by the spooky scene.

"What do you think, Pinhead?" Duke shot back, looking annoyed. "We were fighting over which one of us would get to kiss her in front of both her and her _boyfriend_."

He spat out the last word as if it were a curse, and Tristan grinned sheepishly. "Oh, right. That's probably it."

Duke scowled. "It would've gone perfectly fine if you had just let _me_ go to her instead of jumping me like a barbarian."

"I did not _jump_ you!" Tristan retorted angrily. "And why should I have let _you_ go to Serenity? _I_ saw the mistletoe first!"

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Guys!"

Serenity had joined them downstairs. She flicked on the lights, looking at the two of them in astonishment. "Are you still at this?"

"Well, yes, but only because he – "

"I didn't do anything! You were the one who – "

"Guys!"

They fell silent, their eyes aimed at the floor. "We're sorry," Tristan whispered, at the exact same time Duke muttered: "He started it."

Serenity sighed. "Tristan, Duke… You need to stop doing this. I'm with Seto now, and you can't just keep chasing after me. It's not right."

Duke scowled, not saying a word, but Tristan stepped forward, an apologetic look on his face. "Look, Serenity, we're sorry. We know you're taken now, but it's just… Well, we've been trying to ask you out for forever, and we never managed, while Kaiba just waltzed right in and took you for himself. You never really gave us a chance."

Serenity glanced at Duke. "Do you feel that way too?"

"Yes," Duke said sulkily. "I never understood why you would want Kaiba over me. I mean, we're both rich and handsome, so what's he got that I don't?"

Tristan snickered. "You think Kaiba is handsome?"

Duke glared at him. "That's not the point!"

"No, but… do you?"

"Well, I suppose, from the right angle, when he's not glowering…" Duke spluttered, his face beet red, "but that's still not the point!"

Tristan stifled another chuckle. "Right… what was the point again?"

Duke smacked Tristan on the back of his head. "Serenity never giving either of us a fair chance and choosing Kaiba over us. _That's_ the point, stupid!"

"Oh, right," Tristan nodded sheepishly. He turned to face Serenity, his face now completely serious. "So… why _did_ you choose Kaiba over us?"

Biting her lip, Serenity looked from one boy to the other. "Because," she nearly whispered, unable to look either of them in the eye as she spoke, "you were always fighting over me, and I felt as though you wanted to be with me because you wanted to outshine each other, not because you actually liked me. And despite not having much time for anything besides his job, Seto never gives me anything but his full attention when we're together, and he really makes me feel like I matter, and…"

Her voice died down when she dared to look up and saw the horrorstruck faces of her two admirers. For a while, an awkward silence fell upon the three, until Tristan finally found his voice again.

"We were really that bad, huh?" he sighed, a bad attempt at a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry, guys. You're my friends, and I never said anything because I didn't want to hurt your feelings," Serenity admitted, only now realizing she had done exactly the opposite by not telling them how she felt about their behavior before.

"I guess we did get a bit carried away," Duke said remorsefully. "We never really stopped to think about how you felt at all."

"We're sorry, Serenity," Tristan said timidly. "We promise we won't try to be anything but your friends from now on. Can you ever forgive us?"

Serenity felt tears well up in her eyes. "Of course," she choked out, giving the both of them a heartfelt hug.

When she released them, Tristan turned to Duke. "Hey, Duke?"

"Yeah?"

"Look, there's this really pretty girl who works at the library," he started rather awkwardly.

"Oh, you mean the one who always wears that yellow ribbon in her hair?"

"Miho," Tristan nodded, a faint blush visible on his cheeks. "Since Serenity started dating Kaiba, I've been thinking about asking her out…"

He didn't elaborate, but Duke got the message. "It's okay, I'll stay out of your way this time."

"Thanks, man," Tristan smiled, clasping Duke's shoulder. "I really appreciate it."

Duke grinned. "Yeah, well, we both know you wouldn't stand a chance if I went after her too, so I'm throwing you a bone this time."

Tristan's hand was off Duke's shoulder in a split second. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means that I'm way better looking than you are!"

"You are not!" Tristan spluttered.

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"Ehm… guys?"

The two of them fell silent at once, both looking rather embarrassed.

"Yeah… I think this would be a good time to head back to the others," Duke suggested, scratching the back of his head.

"Good plan," Tristan quickly agreed, and before Serenity could blink, the two of them had hurried up the stairs already, leaving her to chuckle at their antics before following them back upstairs.

When they entered the living room, they were met with an uncomfortable silence. Solomon had taken to handing out cups of eggnog, but it hadn't been much of a distraction, as it seemed everyone had been anxiously waiting for Tristan, Duke and Serenity to return.

Noticing all of them staring, Serenity smiled reassuringly. "Everything's fine. We talked things out downstairs and we've come to an understanding about our friendship." She made sure to emphasize the word 'friendship'.

Joey didn't seem entirely convinced. "You sure, sis?"

"Yes, Joey," she said pointedly. "It's alright. Tristan and Duke won't try to win me over anymore, so you can stop plotting their murders now."

Joey eyed his sister's former admirers for a while. "Alright, then. I'll let it slide. This time. But if either of you tries anything like that again," he said menacingly, waving his index finger at Tristan and Duke, "I will not be held responsible for my own actions."

Tristan and Duke shifted uncomfortably on the spot, but luckily they were saved by Solomon, who went around for another round of eggnog. Gratefully, the two of them took a cup and quietly took the seats furthest away from Joey.

Serenity accepted a cup of eggnog too, despite Joey's spluttering objections, and was about to take a seat herself when Mai suddenly flung an arm around her shoulders, nearly causing her to spill her eggnog. "So…" the blonde drawled loudly, a mischievous look in her eyes. "Everything's all peachy then?"

"Eh… yes?" Serenity said hesitantly, not sure what point Mai was trying to make. "Why?"

"Well," Mai started, putting a finger to her chin in mock thought, "before all the drama started, if I remember correctly, a certain someone and a certain someone else found themselves together underneath a mistletoe somewhere around here. Isn't that right?"

Almost instantly, the room fell completely silent, and Serenity felt her cheeks heat up as she noticed everyone's eyes on her. How could she ever have forgotten her obligatory kiss with Kaiba underneath the mistletoe? Did Mai really expect them to make out right in front of everyone?

Joey seemed to have the same thought. "Come on, Mai, no one wants to see them getting it on in here. It's indecent!"

"Indecent!" Mai scoffed angrily. "You never think it's indecent when _we_ make out in public!"

"Yeah… well… I… that's…" Joey spluttered, his face as red as a tomato. "That's just different!"

Mai raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh really? Different how?"

"Because…" Joey mused, obviously trying to come with something. "Because we never do things like that when there are kids watching!" he said triumphantly as he pointed at Mokuba.

The younger Kaiba jumped to his feet immediately. "Hey! I'm not a kid!"

"You ain't no adult either, squirt," Joey shot back, "so no show for you."

"Oh, stop being so melodramatic, Joey," Mai interjected with a sigh. "You make it sound like they're about to have sex on the kitchen table."

"Don't you go giving them any ideas!"

"I was being sarcastic!"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Kaiba's annoyed voice cut across the two blondes, causing the room to fall silent once more. He crossed the room with three strides, pulled Serenity close to him and crashed his lips against hers.

Her cup of eggnog fell to ground silently, slowly creating an ugly stain on the Muto's carpet, but Serenity took no notice of it. All that mattered right now was her companion; his soft lips on hers, his silky hair running through her fingers, his toned body pressed against her. And then there was his tongue, easily slipping past her teeth, dancing with her own. He tasted of coffee again, but she didn't mind this time; at that moment, there was no flavor better than coffee in all the world, and she would be perfectly content if it was the only thing she'd taste for the rest of her life.

"Alright you two, that's quite enough," Solomon's voice ultimately broke them apart. Panting slightly, her cheeks burning, Serenity looked up into Kaiba's eyes to see her own satisfaction and shock mirrored in them perfectly.

To suppress his strong desire to kiss the younger Wheeler again, Kaiba turned his attention from Serenity to Mai. "There. Are you happy now?"

"Actually," Mai said mischievously, "no, I'm not."

"What?!" came several surprised voices at ones.

Mai shrugged in a would-be casual way if it weren't for the big grin on her face. "You need to actually kiss underneath the mistletoe for it to count."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Joey shouted, and within seconds, another heated discussion had flared up.

Kaiba rolled his eyes at them and made his way over to the window on his own accord. Serenity followed him, despite her logical mind protesting, knowing another kiss would only make things a lot more complicated than they were supposed to be.

She could hardly wait to taste coffee again.

* * *

_And that's the result of a year and a half's hard labor! A lot happened in this chapter I wanted to let happen since I started this story, including Kaiba restoring the Blue-Eyes for Solomon, Tristan and Duke redeeming themselves somewhat, and, of course, Seto and Serenity sharing a fireworks kiss! =D I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and I will try my hardest to get chapter 13 out a bit sooner than chapter 12, though in all honesty, I can't make any promises. I just started law school and I'm starting my new job in October, so I'm going to be very, very busy. Nevertheless, I'm very excited to start chapter 13, and I hope I can share it with you very soon! :) Until that time, I'll also be working on another Silentshipping story, 'Pas de Deux', so if you're a fan of Silentshipping and ballet, go and read that story too! And with that, I will leave you alone. If you have the time, please leave me a review so I can improve my writing. Until next time!_


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